Turkiye is currently in talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the production of hydrogen and the construction of an offshore wind facility, as Ankara continues to build on its restored relationship with the Gulf state.
In July, following Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s prominent visit to the UAE the previous month, the two countries signed energy cooperation agreements worth an estimated $29.7 billion.
Those energy ties have reportedly advanced during the following months, with Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar revealing to journalists on Thursday that Ankara and Abu Dhabi are now in talks to construct an offshore wind facility and to produce hydrogen.
According to Alparslan, Emirati companies have taken an interest in Turkiye’s initiative to transform and transition its energy sources, with the country aiming to produce an annual 3.5 gigawatts of solar energy and 1.5 gigawatts of wind energy within the near future.
“One of the projects we discussed with the UAE was to produce hydrogen mainly from wind energy”, the minister said. He added that negotiations with the Abu Dhabi Development Fund (ADQ) and European companies are already underway.
Alparslan also noted that Turkiye is in discussions regarding a separate project to build an offshore wind farm in the northwestern part of its territory by the Black Sea,which is in line with the country’s goal to generate 5,000 megawatts of wind energy by the year 2035.
“We can reach an agreement on this issue with the UAE and this will be the first project for offshore wind energy production in Turkey”, the minister stated.
Ankara’s talks with Abu Dhabi come at a time when it is juggling a number of projects and proposals with other countries such as Russia and China, which aim to compete for a role in Turkiye’s upcoming energy sector.