State-owned energy company Societe Tunisienne de l’Electricite et du Gaz (Steg) is the client.

The turnkey contract is worth Eur335m ($529m).

Alstom has also won a 12-year contract to provide operation, support and maintenance services for the plant. The new plant will be built on the site of an old thermal power plant.

Ghannouch is Alstom’s third power plant project in the country. Its previous combined-cycle power plants at Sousse and Rades began operation in 1994 and 2001 respectively.

Demand for power in Tunisia is growing at a rate of 6 per cent a year. Steg generates almost 80 per cent of the country’s electricity (MEED 30:4:08).