From Summit to Supply Chain

Türkiye will soon host a global climate summit for the first time. November’s COP31 in Antalya comes amid recent, nearby wildfires, exacerbated, in part, by the ongoing climate crisis. The gathering also contributes to Türkiye’s positioning itself as a serious player in clean energy transition, a move that coincides with EU efforts to spur innovation through economic reforms and international partnerships. With energy and climate security becoming critical for resilience, the time is ripe for Türkiye and the EU to work more closely in these areas. Next-generation clean tech innovation provides a promising foundation for cooperation.

The highest political level in Türkiye is already echoing the Draghi report’s call to boost European innovation. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made no secret of his desire to place his country among the world’s lead­ing innovation economies. The science and research chapter, perhaps not coincidentally, is the only one to have been provisionally closed in Türkiye's EU accession negotiations. At the same time, the regular high-level dialogue on science, research, and innovation offer a potential for deeper collaboration.

Aligned Interests

Clean tech is defined in this text as the products and processes central to decarbonization, along with the raw materials, components, and manufacturing capacity required to produce them. Clean tech is an integral component of Europe’s climate-focused energy agenda, which is driven by initiatives such as the Green Deal and the recent Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), and has become closely intertwined with economic security and competitiveness goals. Türkiye has a strong incentive to keep pace with EU demand for clean tech, given that the country is the bloc’s largest trading partner by far.

The EU and Türkiye offer meaningful complementarities in clean tech. Europe has funding instruments, research and innovation programs, and an increasingly assertive industrial policy. Türkiye has for two decades invested in its renewable energy sector through the “Yekdem” support mechanism, building up its manufacturing base, electricity generation capacity, innovation ecosystem, talent, and market demand for clean tech. As of 2026, 62.9% of Turkey's installed power capacity comes from renewable sources.
 

The synergies matter even more given intensifying competition in clean tech, particularly China's dominance in legacy sectors such as solar, wind, and batteries. In addition, geopolitical shocks emanating from Ukraine and the Middle East reinforce for Europe and Türkiye the imperative of doubling down on and creating new formats for partnership. One that is focused on innovation can accelerate cooperation in legacy and next-generation clean tech. It can also secure a power base for the next phase of industrial and technological competition, including AI infrastructure buildout.

Europe's Innovation Goals Meets Economic Security

In line with the recommendations of the Draghi report, Brussels is stepping up its innovation agenda through increased funding, regulatory reform, and the development of new, issue-specific partnerships. The European Innovation Council’s 2026 work program allocates €1.4 billion to support deep-tech entrepreneurs, while the European Commission has proposed doubling the budget of Horizon Europe, the EU’s key research and innovation funding program, to €175 billion for the period 2028-2034. In addition, the forthcoming European Innovation Act is expected to introduce measures such as regulatory sandboxes, research infrastructure access, and innovation-friendly procurement. These initiatives create opportunities for European innovators to collaborate with like-minded partners on developing next-generation clean tech, which ranges from geothermal energy and grid-enhancing technologies to virtual power plants and advanced energy storage solutions.

The EU is complementing its innovation push with trade and industrial policies aimed at diversifying supply and reducing strategic dependencies in key value chains. The Competitiveness Compass, Clean Industrial Deal, and Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships position trade policy as central to strengthening Europe’s clean tech capacity. This agenda is further supported by the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), which ties public procurement and support schemes to "Made in EU" content requirements.

All this legislation signals real potential for deeper clean tech cooperation with Ankara, which offers more significant benefits than others. First, Türkiye has been a member of Horizon Europe since 2021, which makes the country’s researchers and firms eligible to participate in the program on the same terms as their peers in EU member states. Second, the regular EU-Türkiye high-level dialogue on science, research, and technology already exists. Third, Türkiye is part of the EU customs union, which, according to the draft IAA, would allow clean tech components manufactured in the country to move into EU supply chains without added costs or compliance burdens that other external suppliers face. Realizing the full potential of partnership, however, requires an understanding of Türkiye's innovation ecosystem so that cooperation can be targeted to deliver mutual benefit.

Ankara’s Clean Tech Ambitions

Over the past two decades, Türkiye has made science, technology, and innovation key components of its economic and industrial strategy. With around two-thirds of the country’s energy needs met through imported fossil fuels, diversification of energy sources remains a government priority. Türkiye’s Twelfth National Plan (2024-2028), 2030 Industry and Technology Strategy and Green Deal Action Plan, all of which emphasize green transformation as integral to its industrial competitiveness, reflect this.

The Turkish innovation ecosystem spans government bodies, research institutions, universities, and private-sector firms that are supported by government-led incentive structures designed to convert transnational innovation into domestic capacity. One early example of this effort is the incorporation of research and development requirements into renewable energy tenders. In 2017, the YEKA (Yenilenebilir Enerji Kaynak Alanları, or Renewable Energy Resource Areas) tender, won by a Siemens-Türkerler-Kalyon consortium, required the winner to establish domestic manufacturing capacity and undertake at least 10 years of research and development activity in Türkiye. This resulted in a Siemens Gamesa wind turbine factory and associated operations in İzmir, all of which supported the development of local engineering and research capabilities. The government’s approach has led to investment opportunities for foreign firms and, as of 2025, BloombergNEF (BNEF) notes that the Turkish wind market is “dominated by Western firms”. Germany’s Nordex and Enercon collectively capture 90% of the market. Both companies are setting up blade production facilities to supply domestic projects, and both aim to export their products to Europe.

Türkiye has also built a network of “technoparks”, or technology development zones, around universities and research institutions. These function as hubs for startups, scale-ups, and research and development firms. They are supported by tax incentives, incubation services, research infrastructure, social security premium incentives, wage support for personnel trained in core scientific disciplines, and specialized tech visa programs. Ankara’s OSTİM Eco-Park, for example, serves as a dedicated hub for developing and commercializing clean tech. At the national level, TÜBİTAK, the government's principal research funding and advisory body, has developed a Green Growth Technology Roadmap in coordination with the Ministry of Industry and Technology that identifies technological solutions for decarbonizing emissions-intensive sectors such as iron and steel, aluminum, cement, chemicals, plastics, and fertilizers. 

Türkiye’s evolving innovation ecosystem is supported by its steady emergence as a clean tech manufacturing and investment hub. BNEF notes that, in addition to Türkiye's expanding wind turbine sector, the capacity of the country’s solar module manufacturing base has risen to nearly 30 gigawatts since 2022, nearly triple the EU’s 10.8 gigawatts in 2025. That same year, the country climbed two places, to 21st, in a ranking of global lithium-ion battery supply chains. The buildout also extends to next-generation energy infrastructure. Türkiye plans to invest $30 billion in transmission grid infrastructure between 2026 and 2035, including in new high-voltage direct current (HVDC) lines that will link renewable energy resources in the country’s east with demand centers in the west. At the same time, battery storage capacity is projected to increase from a currently negligible base of 8 gigawatts/24 gigawatt hours by 2035. Türkiye is seeking to attract further clean tech investment through initiatives such as HIT-30, the “High Tech Türkiye Investment Programme”, a $30 billion scheme designed to attract manufacturing capacity in solar, battery, and other clean tech value chains.

Like many countries, including some EU member states, Türkiye's clean tech supply chains rely on foreign investors and suppliers, raising questions about the economies actually being served. This is most apparent in electric mobility, one of the sectors most transformed by Türkiye's innovation agenda. The change has been led by Togg, the national electric vehicle (EV) brand, which began as a state-backed startup and emerged as a major player. China is a part of this story. In May, Togg partnered with a subsidiary of Chinese battery giant CATL to co-develop a chassis platform (a vehicle's underlying architecture integrating key systems such as the battery and powertrain) for next-generation EVs. Togg has also partnered with China's Farasis Energy on battery production, highlighting the role that country’s firms play in Türkiye's emerging EV supply chain. This dependence is not unique to Türkiye. China, after all, accounts for 80% of the world’s battery cell production.

Turning Complementarity into Partnership

With geopolitical disruptions to traditional energy sources, the EU and Türkiye, like many others, need to diversify their energy base. China may dominate established clean energy sectors such as solar and wind, but investments in next-generation clean tech presents an opportunity for Brussels and Ankara to strengthen competitiveness and security. But for stakeholders on both sides, unlocking a clean tech innovation partnership requires concentrated effort to undertake the following measures:

Seize clean tech investment opportunity where it exists. As Türkiye positions itself as a clean tech hub and manufacturing base, Europe should move quickly so that it does not lose an opportunity to others. China, for one, has recognized Türkiye’s potential. Through Togg, Chinese suppliers already have a valuable footprint in Turkish EV manufacturing. There are also traces of China’s footprint in Türkiye’s solar capacity. Benefiting from Türkiye’s HIT-30 program, Astroenergy, a subsidiary of China's Chint Group, recently announced a $700 million investment another solar panel factory. Türkiye, for its part, should market its energy transition-focused industrial policy as a ready-made framework for co-investment. Ankara should not wait for the EU to express interest.

Recognize shared challenges as a basis for further collaboration. The EU has moved to recognize critical dependencies on China in the clean tech sector and act on them (even if some member states lag in this effort). Türkiye’s potential role in this bloc-wide de-risking objective, alongside its own attempts to reduce its critical dependencies in its clean tech supply chains, are key to the depth of any innovation partnership. Ankara recognizes the competitiveness challenges that China presents to Turkish industry and has taken steps to address them through tariffs and anti-dumping measures. Reducing dependency on China in sectors such as solar and batteries may be challenging, but Brussels and Ankara could assess the risks of Chinese involvement in their energy stacks. Using GMF's five-layer “tech-stack” framework as a guide, such an exercise could help map critical dependencies and identify opportunities for EU-Türkiye cooperation on energy diversification and economic security.

Close clean tech skills and research-integration gaps. As the demand for clean tech and decarbonization continues to grow, the EU is facing skills shortages that are becoming a barrier to its own green transition. By securing a talent partnership with Türkiye, like those it has with Bangladesh, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, and Tunisia, the EU could tap into the pool of Turkish engineering talent looking for opportunities abroad. To ensure that this serves as a two-way street rather than accelerating a Turkish brain drain, Ankara could leverage the high-level dialogue on science, research, and innovation with Brussels and negotiate added Horizon Europe dissemination and exploitation requirements to ensure that expertise from Horizon projects feed into Turkish university curricula and industrial training.

Institutionalize the partnership through durable frameworks. The EU should launch a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership (CTIP) with Türkiye, building on the 2025 South Africa template. CTIP could support bilateral trade and investments using instruments such as the EU’s Global Gateway initiative to mobilize capital for clean tech innovation. A CTIP should include a dedicated innovation pillar that draws on each actor’s research and development ecosystems. This pillar could include expanding technopark-based and TÜBİTAK-backed training for high-skilled roles, and developing technoparks in EU member states that advance clean tech efforts. In this way, both actors would gain a strong institutional foundation.

Act Now

COP31 gives the EU and Türkiye a time-bound opportunity to turn their long-standing ties into a clean tech partnership. Both sides are engaged in a high-level innovation push and confront similar pressures, ranging from geopolitical shocks to energy security challenges to heavy reliance of China in their clean tech supply chains. Each also offers what the other needs: Europe has capital, market scale, and a favorable industrial policy while Türkiye has manufacturing capacity, a maturing innovation ecosystem, and talent. Leveraging the EU-Türkiye high-level dialogue on science, research, and technology, they should seize clean tech investment opportunities, jointly assess their clean tech supply-chain dependencies, build research and talent agreements, and launch a CTIP. A joint statement on just such a partnership at COP31 would be a meaningful start.

The views expressed herein are those solely of the author(s). GMF as an institution does not take positions.