Overview
- Late July temperatures reached about 47°C in Tunis and 49°C in Kairouan during a multi‑week heatwave that sharply raised cooling needs across the country.
- The national utility, Société tunisienne de l’électricité et du gaz (Steg), has issued daily 'alertes canicule' and scheduled délestage to relieve a network under strong tension.
- Steg says demand climbed roughly 30 percent at peak times and that the system faced an approximate 400 MW deficit, prompting power cuts that can last from half an hour to several hours in affected zones.
- Rolling outages and related water pump failures have provoked public anger on social media and criticism from independent outlets, with households, businesses and vulnerable people facing heat and service interruptions.
- Experts and journalists point to human‑driven regional warming and chronic capacity limits as underlying problems, with the current délestage presented as an ad hoc response that highlights the need for long‑term grid and water‑service investment.