My Take (Arnulf Christa): This signals Europe’s serious intent to harness North African renewable capacity—a strategic shift that opens opportunities for specialized heavy engineering and subsea infrastructure expertise. German and European contractors should note: energy infrastructure megaprojects of this scale will dominate capital investment for the next decade.
On 24 June 2026, Terna (Italian transmission system operator) and STEG (Tunisian electricity and gas operator) awarded a €770 million contract to Hitachi Energy for the construction of converter stations for the Elmed project, marking the first HVDC power interconnection between Italy and Tunisia. The two converter infrastructures will be erected in Partanna (Province of Trapani, Sicily) and Mlaabi (Tunisia), with approximately 220 km of submarine cable running mostly underwater at depths reaching 800 metres in the Strait of Sicily.
Consortium partners including D’Agostino Costruzioni Generali and Orascom Construction handle civil works, electromechanical installations, and ancillary systems. This flagship European energy infrastructure project directly integrates North African renewable energy capacity into the continent’s power network for the first time, significantly strengthening grid security across Europe including Germany.
Hitachi Energy maintains substantial operational presence in Germany through facilities in Mannheim and Berlin, reinforcing the project’s relevance to German energy infrastructure resilience and the broader European green transition agenda.
Source: megaproject.com