Key facts
- Tunisia is experiencing widespread rolling blackouts due to extreme heat and high electricity demand.
- Water shortages have worsened as blackouts disrupt pumping stations.
- The state electricity and gas company, STEG, is struggling with debt and an aging network.
- Electricity demand hit record highs of 6 gigawatts this summer.
- STEG's total debt reached approximately $2.6 billion in June.
- Unpaid bills owed to STEG amount to about $2.1 billion.
Tunisia is grappling with severe rolling blackouts and water shortages, exacerbated by record-breaking heatwaves and a struggling energy infrastructure. Temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in late July, pushing electricity demand to unprecedented levels and overwhelming the national grid. These outages have disrupted daily life, with fans and air conditioners failing, and have compounded existing water scarcity issues by knocking pumping stations offline.
President Kais Saied has attributed the problems to deliberate acts of sabotage rather than technical failures or lack of preparedness. However, his explanations have met with growing skepticism. Moncef Marzouki, Tunisia's first democratically elected president post-revolution, criticized Saied's administration for incompetence and for "destroying the state, the economy, and society."
The state electricity and gas company, STEG, is facing significant financial challenges, including approximately $2.6 billion in debt as of June and $2.1 billion in unpaid bills from customers. An aging network and insufficient investment in renewable energy have left the country heavily reliant on gas-fired power stations. Despite importing electricity from Algeria, the summer's blackouts have strained essential services, including healthcare, and devastated agricultural operations, with one poultry farm reportedly losing 90% of its chickens due to ventilation system failures during an extended outage.
The Tunisian League for Human Rights has deemed the prolonged blackouts a violation of fundamental rights and human dignity. Residents like Nadia and Hussein expressed frustration with the lack of basic services, stating their primary concern is access to electricity and clean water.