What Role for Hydrogen in Turkey’s Energy Future?

Since early 2020, Turkey has been considering the role of hydrogen in its energy future with a view to producing a hydrogen strategy in the next few months.  Unlike many other countries considering the role of hydrogen, Turkey has only recently (October 2021) ratified the Paris Agreement addressing climate change and its interest is driven more by geopolitical, strategic and energy security concerns.   Specifically with concerns about the high share of imported energy, particularly gas from Russia, it sees hydrogen as part of a policy to increase indigenous energy production.   Turkey already has a relatively high share of renewable power generation, particularly hydro, and recent solar auctions have resulted in low prices, leading to a focus on potential green hydrogen production.  However, it still generates over half of its electricity from fossil fuel, including over 25% from coal and lignite.  Against that background, it provides an interesting case study on some of the key aspects that a country needs to consider when looking to incorporate low-carbon hydrogen into the development of their energy economy.
The research paper can be found on their website