EXTREME HEATWAVES AND WIDESPREAD POWER CRISIS PLUNGE TUNISIA INTO UNPRECEDENTED CHAOS
Persistent power outages across Tunisia have exacerbated the strain of a record-breaking heatwave, with temperatures reaching 49°C (120°F), jeopardizing livelihoods and deepening public discontent. The STEG state utility has been forced to implement rotating blackouts to stabilize the national grid, forcing entire neighborhoods into darkness.
For days, STEG has issued daily heatwave alerts targeting areas at risk of electricity cuts, a measure aimed at preventing a catastrophic grid failure. Chief Executive Faycel Trifa cited the surge in air conditioner usage as the primary driver, stating, “Our network is being pushed beyond its limits.” Recent reports indicate electricity demand peaked at six gigawatts on Tuesday alone, surpassing the 5.6 gigawatts recorded earlier in the week.
Power and water supply disruptions are not new for Tunisia, but this year’s outages have spread far more widely. Residents report blackouts lasting up to six hours, with some enduring even longer interruptions. In Tunis, shop owners describe refrigerators failing in the heat, leaving perishable goods to spoil. A pastry employee lamented, “It feels like God has opened the gates of hell.” Fear of elevators stalling during outages has also spread, with some residents avoiding them entirely.
President Kais Saied condemned the blackout recurrences as “abnormal,” vowing accountability for systemic failures. Hela Tlili, a professor at Tunis El Manar University, linked the crisis to decades of infrastructure neglect, urging modernization: “The electricity network has not evolved alongside growing demand, especially in summer and peak tourism periods.”
Financially strained and reliant on costly energy imports, Tunisia’s aging grid—suffering from years of deferred maintenance—has become a primary battleground. Scientists warn that climate change, fueled by human activity, is heightening the duration and frequency of extreme heat events.
Factors behind surging demand include record tourist activity and air conditioning dependency. For businesses, erratic blackouts are creating economic instability: factory workers report halted production schedules, while a Tunisian butcher warned, “Repeated cuts will ruin my refrigeration equipment.”
Calls for systemic reform emphasize renewable energy diversification, particularly solar and wind power. Tlili advocated for “a fundamental paradigm shift” toward storage solutions, requiring massive public investment. Yet, many Tunisians remain trapped without basic comforts.
In scarcely air-conditioned no-go zones like the suburbs of Bhar Lazreg, resident Mariem described impromptu cooling strategies: sleeping on the floor or wrapping frozen bottles around her child. Prisons face added scrutiny after advocacy groups exposed inadequate thermal protections for inmates, a crisis compounded by medical vulnerabilities. Cardiologist Dhaker Lahidheb publicly urged Saied to release nonviolent offenders suffering from heat-related conditions.
Though rooted in infrastructural fragility, the crisis underscores Tunisia’s climatic precarity—a warning illustrated in the scorching sun of its increasingly volatile summers.