Green Hydrogen Production in Tunisia: The Interplay of Old and New Lines of Conflict

Published: 2025
PRIF Report 2/2025
ISBN/ISSN: 978-3-911092-01-2

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With the Green Deal and the energy crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine, the EU has accelerated a massive transition towards importing green energy, including green hydrogen, from Nort Africa. EU decision-makers portray the energy transition as a win-win situation,  while civil society actors and scholars criticize these developments as “green extractivism” and “green colonialism". In these debates, little attention is directed toward activism in the national realm and (potentially) affected communities. Understanding the views and actions on the ground can help us develop a broader assessment of the conflict potential of export-oriented green energy production.

Using Tunisia as an example, Irene Weipert-Fenner shows that green hydrogen exports are closely linked to ongoing domestic political struggles over the political economy and must be seen in the context of a post-colonial energy history. She identifies the three main lines of conflict and discusses opportunities and limitations for conflict prevention that EU countries have a responsibility to address in their energy policies. Germany, European countries and the EU carry a particular responsibility here as major drivers of the GH2 economy and should integrate ongoing and potential green energy-related conflicts into their policies, be it in the form of development cooperation or intergovernmental agreements.