Page 10 - DMEA Week 15 2021

DMEA HYDROGEN & ENERGY TRANSITION DMEA

Turkey prepares to blend

hydrogen into gas network

MIDDLE EAST TURKEY is reportedly preparing to start blend- launched in Konya, central Anatolia. Its focus
ing hydrogen into its gas distribution network will be hydrogen and biogas.
following the successful completion of labora- Observers expect a wider national hydrogen
tory tests in recent months. strategy to be published by the government in
Mehmet Serif Sarikaya, the projects and the first quarter of 2022 at the latest.
international relations manager of the distribu- Turkey is seen as having major potential to
tion association Gazbir, told Independent Com- produce electrolysed hydrogen produced from
modity Intelligence Services (ICIS) on April 12 renewable energy. Its installed hydro capacity is
that distribution companies would apply for at around 30GW, with wind capacity approach-
permission for blending to the regulator EPDK ing 9GW and total licensed and unlicensed solar
in July. If permission is granted, Izmir Gas would capacity approaching 7GW.
be looking to start blending hydrogen into the Turkey’s wind potential is estimated by the
system in the western Izmir industrial region. ministry of energy at 48GW. Thus, Turkey could
Meanwhile, Aksa Natural Gas, another further expand its renewable fleet to contribute
important distribution company would be to the production of hydrogen.™
expected to do similar tests for households, with
the scale of the project to be determined in rela-
tion to the level of funding offered by the regula-
tor, the ministry of energy or the private sector,
ICIS reported.
Sarikaya was cited as saying that an estimated
Turkish lira (TL) 30m (€3m) would be needed to
cover two- to three-year tests targeting around
20 homes and some industrial consumers start-
ing from 2022. Gazbir and research arm Gazmer
have performed a series of blending tests in a lab-
oratory over the last year, after which a roadmap
was published in March.
A clean energy centre, meanwhile, has been

SUPPLY

Iran could corner 85% share of

China’s LDPE market

MIDDLE EAST IRAN could end up with an 85% share of China’s more than a roadmap for potential trade and
total low density polyethylene (LDPE) imports investment expansions.
by 2025, up from 21% last year, according to an On the other hand, if the deal comes any-
editorial blog post by Independent Commodity where near to being fully realised, Iran would be
Intelligence Services (ICIS). Its share of China’s expected to use discounted oil and petrochem-
HDPE imports may increase from 15% in 2020 icals to pay China for various trade and invest-
to 48% in 2025, it added. ment projects.
The post author noted that the potential shift The polyethylene export gains made by Iran
in trade flows would be the result of the $400bn could be mainly at the expense of the other big-
Iran/China geopolitical and economic security gest exporters of the plastic to China, namely
deal that was signed earlier this month. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Korea and the
However, analysts have noted that it is not Russian Federation, the post added, saying: “But
clear what is in the deal and how much of it as this potential turnaround in export markets
might in reality come to fruition. is largely to do with geopolitics, the growing
Some observers have described the agree- rift between China and the US may result in US
ment as at this point probably amounting to no exporters losing the most ground.”™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 15 15•April•2021