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International partnerships brimming with energy

The 2025 Annual Report ‘Bilateral Energy Partnerships’ looks at success stories of global cooperation in the energy sectors, and shows new developments and actions driving the global energy transition.

Global energy partnerships are just as exciting as they sound. Today, Germany entertains bilateral energy partnerships with over 30 countries, some of which have been in place for 20 years. Over these two decades, great progress has been achieved. But one fact remains true: those who work together in a spirit of trust and who support one another – by providing technology and by transferring knowledge – not only help shape the future of energy in their own country and support local businesses in their partner country, but also act as drivers of the energy transition.

This is exactly where global partnerships come into play, building on a strong foundation of long standing cooperation and mutual trust. These global partnerships support the security of supply in Germany and in our partner countries, they promote the cooperation between German companies and those in a partner country and help decarbonise our economy. To this end, steering group meetings, workshops, bilateral talks, delegation trips and virtual formats are held regularly and allow the partners to discuss the opportunities, challenges and strategies that exist.

Numerous opportunities for German companies

Energy partnerships open up opportunities for German companies to position themselves strategically on forward-looking markets, they reduce dependencies on a specific supply country and diversify the available energy sources. They also help protect critical infrastructure and therefore contribute to an enhanced level of energy security.

Germany and the United Arab Emirates deepen their energy partnership

In 2025, too, there were many changes with regard to the over 30 international partnerships. As part of the Emirati-German Energy Partnership, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Katherina Reiche, travelled to the United Arab Emirates in November 2025 in order to deepen the strategic energy partnership between the two countries. The discussions focused on the security of supply, innovation and on new possibilities for cooperation in the sector of forward-looking technologies. As a result, the two countries agreed to cooperate closely in the sectors of battery storage, offshore wind and green hydrogen. The Emirati-German Energy Forum welcomed more than 160 participants and offered an important platform for discussions on hydrogen infrastructure and the use of artificial intelligence in the energy transition.

South Africa plans to launch one of the largest grid expansion projects worldwide

In South Africa, German companies can access one of the largest grid expansion projects worldwide. By 2035, the government of South Africa plans to build around 14,000 kilometres of new transmission pipelines and numerous transformer stations. As part of a “build, operate, transfer” procedure, grid corridors will first be funded by private investors and then be transferred to the state. The goal is to create a new market segment, suitable for investors and attractive for international grid operators, technology providers and infrastructure investors. The South African-German Energy Partnership was involved in this transformation from an early stage and ensured that Germany’s interests were specifically taken into account in the reform process.

New priorities in the German-Israeli Energy Partnership

In 2025, as part of the German-Israeli Energy Partnership, new priorities were set to protect critical infrastructure, resilience and energy security – for example through a research cooperation project with ATHENE, a delegation of experts working on the Cyber Week and multilateral cyber exercises in the energy sector. This is also a way for Germany to strengthen its own resilience against physical attacks and against cyber-attacks on critical energy infrastructure.

A new area of cooperation in the German-Thai Energy Dialogue

In Thailand, data centres ­ have been added as a new area of cooperation within the framework of the German-Thai Energy Dialogue, reflecting their status as critical infrastructure and their particular need for secure and uninterrupted energy supply. Reliable energy supply and cooling systems, combined with high energy efficiency are key for the sustainable development of the sector. They also open up new opportunities for technology transfer and private sector cooperation. This partnership supports technical cooperation and looks at how Thai market needs can specifically be addressed by German business expertise.

You can find these and many other examples of Germany’s global energy cooperation in the current Annual Report on Bilateral Energy Partnerships.