© Deutsch-Türkisches Energieforum
Germany and Türkiye expand their energy cooperation
At the 7th German-Turkish Energy Forum that took place in Ankara in mid-June, the two countries agreed to develop their existing energy partnership into a German-Turkish Energy and Raw Materials Partnership. The German-Turkish Energy Forum, which was headed up by Federal Minister Katherina Reiche und the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, was attend by around 700 participants in Ankara. It is considered a central pillar of the two countries’ energy cooperation and was established in 2012.
Energy security through diversification and strong partnerships
The forum followed the motto of “Partnership for Energy Security”. It was centred on the question of what Germany and Türkiye can do to render their energy systems more resilient and fit for the future in the face of geopolitical tension, volatile market and fragile supply chains. Other key points on the agenda included the expansion of renewables, grid infrastructure and flexibility, digitisation, energy efficiency, hydrogen and its derivatives, as well as innovation and the transformation of industry.
In her opening speech, Federal Minister Reiche stressed that, in today’s world, a secure energy supply and industrial competitiveness are inseparably linked. She said that energy increasingly determines where companies invest, where GDP is generated and how independently countries can act economically and politically.
Türkiye plays an important role in Europe’s energy supply
Germany and Türkiye are faced with similar challenges in this context. Both countries seek to make their energy supply more resilient, diversify supply sources and continue with the transformation of their energy systems whilst also having to ensure that their energy systems are competitive, affordable and stable. Due to its geographical location, growing energy infrastructure and connections to energy-exporting countries, Türkiye plays an important role in Europe’s energy supply.
Together with Germany, Türkiye wants to redouble its efforts to establish resilient energy systems, integrate renewable energy, put in place storage solutions, drive innovation in its energy sector and create an accommodating regulatory framework. The Turkish government has set itself ambitious expansion targets: the country’s demand for electricity is expected to rise from today’s approx. 360 terawatt-hours (TWh) to 510 TWh by 2035. To achieve this, more than $80bn worth of investments in renewable energy are planned. For German companies, this opens up manifold opportunities for cooperation and doing business, e.g. in the field of renewables, electricity grids, storage solutions, digitisation, energy efficiency, hydrogen, flexible power plants and smart infrastructure.
Teaming up for energy and raw materials security
Germany and Türkiye will expand their energy partnership to include critical minerals and want to cooperate in this field. In this way, the widened partnership is to combine a secure supply of energy and raw materials with resilient supply chains and sustainable industrial development.
To this end, three working groups and a task force are working on energy resilience, flexible grids, the digitalisation of energy systems, renewables, energy efficiency, the regulation of the gas and power markets, hydrogen and new sources of energy, the protection of critical energy infrastructure, as well as innovations and startups.
The private sector and startups working on the energy transition are actively involved through investments and projects. Cooperation on energy technologies was also enhanced through a startup side event entitled Energy Start-up Showcase: Turkish-German Innovation Exchange, held during the joint energy forum. In the long term, the Energy Start-up Showcase will serve as a platform for startups, investors, companies and public-sector institutions and focus on areas such as digital grids, storage, energy efficiency and smart infrastructure. The objective is to bring innovations to market more quickly, enable pilot projects and strengthen cooperation between young companies and established players in the energy industry.
The signing of several memoranda of understanding (MoU) is to also to further the energy cooperation between the two countries, including one MoU on cooperation on flexibility and decarbonisation solutions for energy-intensive industries, another on strengthening cross-border startup ecosystems through an exchange of startups, talent and technologies in the field of energy and climate technologies, and a third MoU on industrial cooperation in the area of renewables, with a focus on wind energy installations.
Shared infrastructure for tomorrow’s security
The key message of the 7th Energy Forum is clear: energy security cannot be established by entering new dependencies or by pulling up the drawbridge, but instead by diversification, investments and reliable partnerships. Germany and Türkiye want to broach this task together and turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s economic and technological strengths.