A scenario analysis of potential long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the Tunisian electricity sectorShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Energy Strategy Reviews, ISSN 2211-467X, E-ISSN 2211-4688, Vol. 38, article id 100759Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economy of Tunisia, like that of many other countries. With electricity consumption dropping, consumption patterns changing, international fuel prices oscillating and uncertainty raging, the pandemic has affected not least the planning of investments in electricity supply. Although the government seems unlikely to revise the decarbonisation targets downwards, questions arise on whether the investments planned before the pandemic are still relevant in the changed global landscape and what effects they may have on the country's economy. In this study, we analyse post-pandemic scenarios for the electricity supply system of Tunisia with an energy economy modelling framework, soft-linking the energy modelling tool OSeMOSYS and an open source Input Output model. We extract insights on the cost-competitiveness of different - previously planned and new - electricity supply solutions and their impacts on job creation and loss in the entire economy. We find that renewable solutions based on solar photovoltaic remain highly competitive with gas-fired generation under different projections of gas prices and that several low-carbon and energy efficiency solutions have high potential for job creation. We also find that more ambitious investments in renewables and energy efficiency are needed to take Tunisia towards the path of deep decarbonisation.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2021. Vol. 38, article id 100759
Keywords [en]
COVID-19, Tunisia, Energy-economy, OSeMOSYS, Input-output, Open source
National Category
Energy Systems
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-307549DOI: 10.1016/j.esr.2021.100759ISI: 000741320700003Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85119184166OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-307549DiVA, id: diva2:1633570
Note
QC 20220131
2022-01-312022-01-312022-06-25Bibliographically approved