UNIDO-ICHET support to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Turkey

The International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (ICHET) has been implementing measures to demonstrate potential benefits of “hydrogen and fuel cell systems” in developing countries. ICHET is a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) project funded by the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. To achieve its mission, ICHET implements pilot demonstration projects, provides applied research and development funding, and organizes workshops, education and training activities. Long term objective of the centre are to show implementation of hydrogen energy technologies with renewable energy systems and encourage local industries to manufacture similar systems for commercial applications. Support has been provided to select industrial partners in Turkey for developing prototypes including a fuel cell forklift, a fuel cell boat, a fuel cell passenger cart, renewable energy systems integrated mobile house, fuel cell based Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) installations. As more and more systems are demonstrated, public awareness of applications of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies will increase. ICHET has polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell testing capabilities together with analytical equipment to conduct fuel cell, hydrogen production and storage research. These facilities are being used for educational purposes with hundreds of engineers trained to date.