Standardisation Roadmap for Hydrogen Technologies

Dr Vogt, you have been in charge of the new hydrogen technologies business field at DIN since the beginning of 2022. What are your tasks and why has DIN expanded its commitment in this area?
Green hydrogen is a key element for the energy transition and an important strategic topic for DIN. It is a multidisciplinary topic involving many stakeholders. There are over 400 national, European and international bodies that develop standards and technical rules in this area. I support this major coordination effort with the aim of providing users with a comprehensive and congruent set of standards for hydrogen.

When we talk about hydrogen technologies: Why do we need standards and specifications? What specific advantages arise from this for the players in the green hydrogen value chain?
Norms and standards define terminology, interfaces, safety, system and quality requirements, as well as testing and certification principles. As a result, they create a uniform understanding across disciplinary boundaries. These are important foundations for enabling the urgently needed scaling of hydrogen technologies. Furthermore, the application of standards supports legally compliant action and forms the basis for resilient economic investments, as they must also be made, for example, in the food industry.

The Standardisation Roadmap for Hydrogen Technologies, which contains around 180 recommendations for action, was presented at the end of July ...
The publication was an important milestone in the "Standardisation Roadmap for Hydrogen Technologies" joint project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and organised by the national standardisation organisations and technical regulators. Together with around 1,600 experts from business, politics, science and civic organisations, a strategic roadmap was developed for the rapid, targeted expansion and adaptation of the technical regulations in the field of hydrogen technologies.

What is your conclusion? In which areas is there still a great need for research?
It has been shown that the various topics are at different stages of development. While the technical regulations for grid-based infrastructures are almost complete and are now being partially revised, other areas are still in the coordination or initiation phase. In the areas of aviation and shipping, alternative hydrogen production methods or in the area of derivatives, for example, there are still many gaps that need to be closed. The roadmap document can be downloaded free of charge from https://bit.ly/4eC8oj7 .

How well do you think Germany is positioned in terms of standardisation activities?
In principle, we see a high level of participation by German experts in the development of standards at the European and international level and a high level of German representation in the field of hydrogen technologies. For example, DIN provides the secretariat for some of the working groups of the international committee "ISO/TC 197 Hydrogen Technologies" and chairs the coordination group of the European standardisation bodies dealing with hydrogen. It is important that we maintain this active role in the future and help shape standardisation activities accordingly, in order to set the agenda and ensure that security requirements meet German and European standards. In my opinion, the sentence "If you don't standardise, you will be standardised!" sums it up perfectly.

Have best practice solutions been identified in the course of work on the roadmap?
A total of 180 recommendations for action were developed for technical regulation. A sufficient degree of maturity in the technical development was a prerequisite for these recommendations. For topics that had not yet reached this level of technical maturity, recommendations for pre-normative research were made instead.

In the area of "production" in particular, most of the projects are still pilot projects based on hydrogen electrolysis. What gaps have you identified here? Where do you see the greatest need for action?
The technical rules for the production of hydrogen by water electrolysis are relatively well developed. Core standards are available for the areas of safety, planning, construction and operation for the electrolysis. There is still a need for action in areas such as measurement procedures, guidelines for plant optimisation, feed-in optimisation in the grid and international harmonisation.

Does the roadmap provide the industry with reliable information as to which of the existing standards can already be applied to hydrogen applications?
One important result of the Standardisation Roadmap is a comprehensive directory of the technical regulations for hydrogen technologies that are already applicable, which we are making available to the public. The directory, which can be accessed at https://bit.ly/3ZyUfi8 , contains more than 900 entries and has recently been updated.

What is the next step on the way to the final roadmap, which is scheduled for the end of 2025?
The publication of the standardisation roadmap this summer is an important milestone for the further development of the technical framework for hydrogen technologies. Within the framework of the project, we will further substantiate and consolidate this roadmap in order to continue to advance the development of the quality infrastructure for hydrogen.

What are the next specific steps?
Over the next few years, more and more results from the various research projects and practical experience will be available, enabling the adaptation and expansion of the technical regulations. Here as well, the Standardisation Roadmap for Hydrogen Technologies, with its network of experts, will support the transfer to the technical regulations. Furthermore, the progress of standardisation and technical regulation activities at a national, European and international level will be closely monitored and taken into account. These developments and the further elaboration of the recommendations for action to close existing gaps, particularly in areas where development is currently still at a low level, will be presented in the second version of the Standardisation Roadmap for Hydrogen Technologies. Interested experts are warmly invited to participate in the further development of the programme.