The Tunisian authorities emphasize the oil and hydrocarbon dependency of their country as a major factor pushing for an energy transition and the development of renewable energy technologies (RET). However, despite several legal decisions over the recent years, the only achievements recorded in the field of RET is the development of solar water heaters in different regions in the country. Quite surprisingly, the major achievement seems to be the development of natural gas. The conflicting visions of the national utility for electricity and gas (STEG), on the one hand, and the national agency for energy savings (ANME) on the other hand, partly explains this unclear strategy: ANME has been very reluctant to embark on a strategy designed by STEG. This situation must be analysed in terms of competing "collectives", whereby social and political interests interplay with long lasting policy instruments (tariff, subsidy systems, and institutional roles), which prove to create institutional path dependency. The paper aims at understanding the institutional framing of RET development by considering the overall Tunisian energy policy.