Standards Development

Scope

This document specifies hydrogen quality characteristics, parameters and their limits with focus to trace components and combustion properties in hydrogen infrastructure for hydrogen to be transmitted, injected into and withdrawn from storages, distributed and utilized.

NOTE: This document does not intend to pre-empt the EC Standardisation Request but support the standardisation process. It will be adapted accordingly as soon as the contents of the EC Standardisation Request are set.

Purpose

A common European H2 quality specification is needed for the H2 market take-up for all parts of the hydrogen value chain as soon as possible, with view to the establishment of the hydrogen backbone, including cross-border aspects, and the integration of storages and especially for the support of the production, ongoing and starting erection and operation of the hydrogen infrastructure, and the consumption at end-use level.

This proposal is focussing on giving limiting values of trace component in hydrogen. 

This proposal facilitates both, the ramp-up of the hydrogen market and cross-border trade including interconnection agreements on bilateral and multilateral scale. It intends to give security to production, to the various part of the hydrogen infrastructure and end-users.

This proposal supports the outcome of the recent EC DG Energy study (Study on hydrogen quality in dedicated infrastructure and standardisation) that requests a common H2 quality standard, and also the announced Standardisation Request of the European Commission to CEN/CENELEC to draft a common European H2 quality specification. Adaptations to the Standardisation request are intended, where needed.

Note: The Questions 20 (Related standardization request(s)) and 21 (Related directive(s)/regulation(s)) of this NWIP template will need reconsideration when the Standardisation Request is available.

As several European and national project results are available (EC study on H2 quality, EASEEgas/Kiwa), others are awaited to come (e.g. EISMEA HyQual Net) it is the right time to start the standardisation process, engage the stakeholder and create early consensus on the hydrogen quality specification.

EASEEgas drafted a Common Business Practice Specification (CBP) “Hydrogen Trace Component” and is ready to share this document as basis for the proposed standard.

Emphasising the need to involve all stakeholder along the hydrogen value chain into the standardisation process, CEN/TC 234 – in terms of TC membership and composition of the relevant TC Working Groups – comprehensively covers the parts of the gas/hydrogen infrastructure value chain and will engage further stakeholder to properly involve the complete hydrogen chain, where needed.