Norm writing is a very dry but also very important topic – especially when a completely new economic industry is to be established. For this reason, various institutions from academics, politics, commerce and community started a steering committee for hydrogen standards in the beginning of August 2023.
As stated in a press release, this 26-member committee was put together for “strategic support in working on a roadmap for setting standards for hydrogen technologies (Normungsroadmap Wasserstofftechnologien).” The aim is to “accelerate the expansion of hydrogen technologies in Germany through a coordinated approach to technical rulemaking” and launch a hydrogen roadmap (Wasserstoffroadmap) to aid the expansion of the hydrogen economy and infrastructure.
Chosen to lead this steering committee was Dr. Kirsten Westphal, executive board member of the Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft (national association for energy and water economy, BDEW). Westphal explained, “The roadmap will help to identify needs and to directly initiate concrete implementation projects in the field of technical regulation of hydrogen technologies.”
The committee is receiving institutional support from the DIN (Deutsche Institut für Normung), DVGW (Deutscher Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches), NWB (Verein für die Normung und Weiterentwicklung des Bahnwesens), VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie), VDI (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure), VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau) and DKE (Deutsche Kommission Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik). Financial support has come since January 2023 from the German ministry for economy and climate protection (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, BMWK).
The official kick-off event for this collaborative project running until November 2025 took place online in March 2023 with 1,300 participants. The planned H2-Roadmap is now to be developed by a total of 39 working groups in an “open and transparent process” in which “all interested parties can participate.” A first draft should be available in the summer of 2024.
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