(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) TUNIS, Jan 4 (KUNA) -- The French Development Agency (AFD) has provided the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) a loan worth USD 136.6 million to finance installation of smart electricity meters across the north African nation.
The loan agreement was signed on Friday in Tunis between STEG CEO Moncef Harrabi and Director of AFD's Tunis office Gilles Chausse, the Tunisia news agency (TAP) reported Friday.
The first phase of the project focuses on the installation of 400,000 smart electricity meters, said Harrabi.
The meters in the Sfax region constitute 10 percent of the country's meters, he said.
Al-Harrabi noted that the second phase envisaged replacing the conventional meters with the smart ones in households nationwide to help eliminate the flat-rate invoice, so that the customer will be able to monitor his electricity and gas consumption at any time, and to control his energy bill.
The new technology will make it easier for households to install photovoltaic panels and use renewable energy, he argued.
For his part, Chausse pointed out that the implementation of this project meets Tunisia's commitments, during the Paris Agreement, to reduce the rate of carbon emissions by 41 percent by 2030. (end) ksj.ibi
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