TUNIS, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia, which imports most of its petroleum needs, targets to develop solar power capacity in order to diversify reliance on traditional sources of electricity generation, official TAP news agency reported on Saturday.

Tunisia expects to achieve 40 projects during 2010 to 2016 as it wants to be less dependent on oil and gas with 29 schemes to be financed by private sector, said the report without giving accurate figure on the value.

The projects would help the north African country to cut energy consumption by 22 percent in 2016 saving 660 tonnes of oil per year, it added.

Tunisia energy imports stood at 4.913 billion Tunisian dinars (3.862 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous year, up 64 percent from a year earlier.

The power demand in Tunisia grows 7 percent per year on fast growing economy which was at 5.1 percent last year, according to official data.

Tunisia eyes to develop renewable energy enough to be a world industrial and energetic hub producing and exporting notably solar power.

With the aim, the country has set in 2008 a four-year national plan aiming at improving production of renewable energy which forecasted to satisfy 4 percent of power demand in 2011.(1 USD = 1.272 Tunisian dinar)