
GERG participated in a technical workshop focused on hydrogen, organised by the French Technical Center for Mechanical Industries (Cetim) in Nantes (France) on Friday, 12 December. The workshop brought together a wide range of stakeholders who discussed the latest advances in the low-carbon hydrogen sector and its applications in industry. Simon Joyce, co-chair of GERG's Hydrogen Working Group (GERG H2 WG), represented us at this event, explaining some of the latest achievements and outcomes that this WG brings.
In his presentation: “GERG's H2 research roadmap, technical vision and ongoing/finalised projects on hydrogen gas infrastructure,” Joyce reviewed the methodology GERG members uses to identify and prioritise research gaps in the hydrogen sector, in line with industry needs. First, Joyce presented the GERG Hydrogen Research Roadmap, a document for GERG members that analyses the priorities in the different research topics in the hydrogen sector, taking into account the views of those members. Joyce recounted how this document has helped GERG prioritise the different research topics identified by GERG members, with a view to developing future projects and visualising industry needs. In addition, Joyce highlighted that the roadmap has also allowed GERG to connect with other associations and funding programs, apart from liaising with standardisation bodies for pre-normative activities.
After explaining how this methodology works, Joyce reviewed the projects in which GERG is involved that relate to hydrogen. Currently, GERG is a partner in 11 EU-funded projects that are committed to increasing the use of hydrogen as a renewable energy source: OPTHYCS, THOTH2, CANDHy, SHIMMER, PilgrHYm, NHyRA, MetHyTrucks, H2FlowTrace, SmartGasNet, CryoMet, and MetNH3Energy.
Afterwards, Joyce explained in detail three projects that outline the work GERG supports in terms of research for greater hydrogen uptake. First, he analysed the Met4H2 project, finalised in September this year, which has provided outputs that support the development of new and improved standards for safe hydrogen application, flow measurement, hydrogen quality assessment, and custody transfer. Next, it was the turn of the CEN H2 PNR project, which researches requirements for the introduction of hydrogen in European natural gas grids. Finally, Joyce introduced the EISMEA HyQualNet project, which started this year and is a joint project led by the German Institute of Standarization and Danish Standard preparing for the European Committee of Standarization (CEN) and European Electrotechnical Committee for Standardization (CENELEC) standardisation on hydrogen. GERG is a partner of this project, which bundles technical knowledge relevant for standardisation by elaborating draft scopes and draft specifications for the relevant hydrogen quality topics related to gaseous hydrogen grids.
Our presence at this workshop demonstrates the importance of GERG's work in the field of hydrogen, while highlighting the high level of research we help to carry out. Thanks to this presentation, we were able to showcase our work in the field of hydrogen to industrial stakeholders and academic experts, fostering dialogue and sharing insights.





