European Green Hydrogen Project Sets New Benchmark
The world's largest solid-oxide electrolyzer has come online in the EU, supplying renewable hydrogen to a refinery in Rotterdam. While not a Turkish project, it sets a global benchmark for industrial-scale green hydrogen production, a sector that is a growing priority for Turkey's energy transition policy.
- The 2.6 MW solid-oxide electrolyzer, manufactured by the German company Sunfire, operates at high temperatures of 850°C to produce over 60 kg of renewable hydrogen per hour. This high-temperature process, which utilizes waste heat from the refinery, is significantly more electricity-efficient than other electrolysis technologies, achieving an efficiency of up to 84%. - Turkey's national hydrogen strategy, released in January 2023, aims to establish 2 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030, rising to 5 GW by 2035 and 70 GW by 2053. The strategy targets reducing green hydrogen production costs to below $2.4/kg by 2035 and under $1.2/kg by 2053. - The Turkish Energy, Nuclear and Mining Research Institute (TENMAK) is actively supporting domestic electrolyzer technology, starting with a 500 kW system in 2023 and aiming for up to 1 GW capacity by 2053. This is part of a broader R&D push into clean hydrogen production and storage technologies. - Tüpraş, Turkey's largest refiner, is a key industrial player in the country's hydrogen transition, planning to convert all its grey hydrogen production to green by 2040. The company is targeting 400 MW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030 and 1 GW by 2035. - Between 2018 and 2022, $651 million was invested in 148 climatetech startups across Turkey and the MENA region, with Turkey seeing the highest number of deals at 80. However, while the number of climate tech deals in Turkey nearly doubled in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the previous year, most were small, seed-stage investments. - The European Union is stimulating the market through its European Hydrogen Bank, which awarded €992 million to 15 large-scale renewable hydrogen projects in May 2025. A third auction with a budget of up to €1 billion is planned for the end of 2025. - Initial Turkish green hydrogen pilot projects include Enerjisa's facility in Bandırma and a hydrogen storage and transportation project in Kocaeli developed by Borusan EnBW Enerji in partnership with Siemens Energy. - A World Bank report identified Turkey as having the most potential among middle-income countries to benefit from the rising global demand for climate-tech products, ranking fourth in its current competitive advantage in the sector.
