Tunisia is absorbing economic fallout and agricultural losses after more than two weeks of rolling blackouts. The power cuts, known locally as délestage, were triggered by extreme heatwaves that forced production halts nationwide, and disrupted food preservation chains.
Poultry Decimation and Heavy Meat Spoilage
Professional organizations report that roughly 13 percent of Tunisia’s national poultry production has been lost by the utility failures. Data from the Tunisian Union of Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts (UTICA) reveals that 70 percent of restaurants sustained direct impacts. Furthermore, 400 to 500 tonnes of meat spoiled completely, requiring immediate destruction after refrigeration cycles collapsed. Meanwhile, textile factories logged up to 55 hours of forced production halts within a single week, leaving widespread equipment damage in their wake.
Workshops Incinerated by Electrical Surges
Individual business owners are recounting catastrophic operational failures. Nadia Sassi, an apiculturist, was a former showcase of the Raidat public support program for young female entrepreneurs, lost her entire workshop in Tunis when recurrent power cuts sparked an overnight electrical fire. Ten to 20 power interruptions daily had driven intense circuit overheating during peak summer temperatures. Sassi lost all machinery and her wax inventory, leaving seven dependent families without work while she negotiates loan payment deferrals and compensation from the Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas (STEG).
Grid Pressures and Overwhelmed Interconnections
Energy expert Sami Ben Rejeb notes that the rolling blackouts caught the population and infrastructure unprepared, marking an unprecedented crisis for the country’s power grid. Tunisia relies heavily on Algerian natural gas to fuel domestic power plants, alongside importing roughly 13 percent of its electricity directly from Algeria to meet demand.
July 12 Grid Failure and Collapsing Capacities
Extreme heat simultaneously drove Algerian electricity consumption to historical peaks, culminating in a major grid failure on July 12 that disrupted interconnected supply lines. With domestic power generation capacity dropping by 20 percent alongside surging demand, and Algerian import capacities capped by regional heatwaves, Tunisian authorities had few alternatives to prevent widespread grid collapse.
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