Harmonisation of the authorisation hydrogen refuelling installations in the EU came one step closer at a workshop organised by European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and  the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) on October 25 in Brussels. The EHA and HyER were asked to present the user and local perspectives. The challenges faced by for example bus operators  in Italy to install hydrogen installations are a big contrast to the experiences in Germany, where industry recently embarked on a 400 station endeavour by 2023.  The EU Commission  deadline of February 14, 2014 to integrate certain standards in the new Directive for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastrucuture that is currently being reviewed bu Membr States and the EU Parliament forces stakeholders to review the options on the table. The main discussions concentrated on the disrupted efforts with the ISO DIS 20100:2008. CEN CENELEC therefore proposed a two way process.

–          ISO TC 197 will start new ISO standard based on the existing NWIP (US,F) with a duration of 3-5 years; TR after 1 or 2 years; IS after 3 or 5 years

–          CEN CENELEC could start a parallel  EU activity to build an EN standard. This could be allocated within the existing TC 268 (cryogenic vessels) if industry agrees.

A follwo up meeting will be organsies after important ISO meetings on this topic at the end of this month.