Celia Greaves, CEO of the HEA, said the establishment of a refuelling infrastructure was a necessity and highlighted factors impacting the rate at which the network develops, including support for the sector, economies of scale, cost and, significantly, standardisation.
“In the UK’s journey to net zero, transport is one of the main areas where hydrogen is seen as a key route to decarbonisation” said Ms Greaves. “This HEA Position Paper explores the state of standardisation across hydrogen refuelling, particularly for heavy duty transport and identifies gaps in provision while providing recommendations to accelerate progress.”
Standardisation is the development and implementation of technical standards based on health and safety good practice and consensus among technical experts. It can deliver both quality, safety, interoperability and repeatability, and supply chain export opportunities.
Major sticking points identified in the paper include the current absence of protocols for refuelling HGVs, the need for design guidelines and component certification and testing standards across different pressure classes, and the lack of a consistent approach to training.
The HEA is campaigning for a systematic approach to standards development to accelerate the standardisation process at the pace the industry requires.
As such, it is calling on the UK Government, Industry, BSI, Health and Safety Executive and the Hydrogen Skills Alliance to collaborate to ensure the development of the right standards in refuelling protocols, instrumentation and training to maintain momentum.
“This is a complex landscape with a range of national and international bodies active and varying rates of progress” added Ms Greaves. “The paper provides extensive detail on the breadth of current provision and the players involved. And, as such, it represents a snapshot in time. The hydrogen space as a whole is moving forward at pace, and similar forward momentum is needed across hydrogen refuelling standardisation. The HEA will continue to liaise with these and other UK stakeholders to ensure that the opportunities which hydrogen for transport offers can be realised efficiently and quickly.”
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