The Turkish-German Energy Forum on 2 June 2021 brought together 450 stakeholders from politics, industry, science and civil society to discuss the transformation of the energy system in Türkiye and Germany, and to explore further opportunities for collaboration.

The ambassador of Germany in Turkey, H.E. Jürgen Schulz, and the ambassador of Türkiye in Germany, H.E. Ali Kemal Aydin opened the Expert Forum in the morning. There, the Working Groups of the Partnership presented and discussed current topics, and identified opportunities for collaboration.

Peter Altmaier, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy of the Federal Republic of Germany and Fatih Dönmez, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Türkiye, officially opened the third Turkish-German Energy Forum in the afternoon.

Both ministers highlighted the significance of the Turkish-German Energy Partnership and stated their wish to intensify collaboration on the topics of the Partnership. New opportunities for further collaboration may arise with respect to the build-up of a hydrogen economy.

Dr Alparslan Bayraktar, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Türkiye, and Thomas Bareiß, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of the Federal Republic of Germany, discussed the economic opportunities arising from the transformation of the energy system with a panel of business leaders from the energy sector. The discussion showed the important role of companies from both countries in shaping the transformation and in driving innovation.

The following session on the work of the Energy Partnership with the Co-Chairs of the Working Groups gave an outlook on the future of the collaboration. The topics currently discussed in the working groups will be further developed and, where possible, yield pilot projects, for example on Energy Performance Contracting (EPC), the flexibilisation of existing thermal power plants and hydrogen. The Working Groups also identified new topics, for example innovation, digitisation, automation and smart markets.

Following the discussions, participants could come together in a digital market-place at thematic roundtables, or join a side-event on Start-Ups in the energy transition, which led to lively discussions and interesting insights into new business opportunities in a transformed energy system.