Periodic Reporting for period 1 - StasHH (Standard-Sized Heavy-duty Hydrogen)
Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-06-30
Many industrial actors in the heavy-duty (HD) transport sector are interested in deploying zero-emission solutions based on hydrogen fuel cells, but their deployment has been hindered for years by the lack of an industry standard defining how to integrate fuel cells in a vehicle. This has caused repeated "re-engineering of the wheel" as various companies integrated fuel cells from a specific vendor in a specific vehicle.
StasHH provides a standard for the size, connections and communication of a generic fuel-cell module (FCM) that both FCM manufacturers and their customers can use in their design. The standard is designed with focus on European trucks, which were identified as the most difficult application due to their limited available volume, but can be transferred to all HD applications, both on land and sea.
StasHH' consortium include many large and influential FCM manufacturers, some based in Europe and some daughter companies of worldwide market leaders, and a wide cross-section of vehicle manufacturers encompassing trucks, buses, trains, construction vehicles, and ships.
While battery cars are gradually becoming more common in Europe, and most major manufacturers have ambitious electrification plans, the HD sector is more difficult to transition to zero-emission propulsion because of the inherent limitations of batteries in terms of weight, capacity and cost. Hydrogen fuel cells can provide zero-emission HD mobility with lower weight, higher capacity and far lower cost for the same stored energy: StasHH aims to kickstart the adoption of fuel cells in the HD sector.
StasHH' objectives are:
1. Reducing the total cost of ownership of fuel cells, which is key in the commercially driven HD sector;
2. Unify the HD markets providing one single standard for trucks, buses, ships, trains, etc.
3. Provide a stackable standard up to the MW scale, to cover even more markets;
4. Ensuring fair competition among fuel-cell suppliers, whose FCMs may be easily swapped for another company's;
5. Reduce the research, development and innovation costs of vehicle manufacturers, who will have clear guidelines on how to install fuel cells in their vehicles;
6. Enable FCM manufacturers to automate their production by reducing the number of models to a few standard sizes, unleashing economies of scale;
7. Improve the supply chain, as defective FCMs may be easily replaced and sent to their factory for repairs, instead of dispatching technicians to every single site.
StasHH provides a standard for the size, connections and communication of a generic fuel-cell module (FCM) that both FCM manufacturers and their customers can use in their design. The standard is designed with focus on European trucks, which were identified as the most difficult application due to their limited available volume, but can be transferred to all HD applications, both on land and sea.
StasHH' consortium include many large and influential FCM manufacturers, some based in Europe and some daughter companies of worldwide market leaders, and a wide cross-section of vehicle manufacturers encompassing trucks, buses, trains, construction vehicles, and ships.
While battery cars are gradually becoming more common in Europe, and most major manufacturers have ambitious electrification plans, the HD sector is more difficult to transition to zero-emission propulsion because of the inherent limitations of batteries in terms of weight, capacity and cost. Hydrogen fuel cells can provide zero-emission HD mobility with lower weight, higher capacity and far lower cost for the same stored energy: StasHH aims to kickstart the adoption of fuel cells in the HD sector.
StasHH' objectives are:
1. Reducing the total cost of ownership of fuel cells, which is key in the commercially driven HD sector;
2. Unify the HD markets providing one single standard for trucks, buses, ships, trains, etc.
3. Provide a stackable standard up to the MW scale, to cover even more markets;
4. Ensuring fair competition among fuel-cell suppliers, whose FCMs may be easily swapped for another company's;
5. Reduce the research, development and innovation costs of vehicle manufacturers, who will have clear guidelines on how to install fuel cells in their vehicles;
6. Enable FCM manufacturers to automate their production by reducing the number of models to a few standard sizes, unleashing economies of scale;
7. Improve the supply chain, as defective FCMs may be easily replaced and sent to their factory for repairs, instead of dispatching technicians to every single site.
The key result of the first year of the project is the three standard documents defining respectively the sizes, interfaces and communications of the StasHH modules. The standards were agreed after many rounds of discussion involving the entire consortium, especially the manufacturers of the fuel-cell modules and of the applications that would use them, such as vehicles, ships, and trains. The standard are publicly available on the project's website.
Another significant public result is the extensive review of regulations, codes and standards (RCS) in multiple markets: at almost 600 pages, the document details the implications of existing RCS for StasHH' own standards.
All FCM manufacturers have provided the design of the modules they will build in the project (except Hyundai, who just joined the consortium). A key feature of the project is the presence of many competing companies, which requires extra attention to confidentiality issues. These modules will be subject to Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) and Site Acceptance Tests (SAT) that have specifically been defined for the project by the testing partners and FCM manufacturers.
The project has received significant attention from the industry, and many vehicle manufacturers requested to be involved. The project set up an Advisory Board including companies such as Airbus, Bosch, cellcentric, Colruyt, Engie and Mahle, but given the overwhelming interest an exploitation group was set up to keep contact with all other companies interested in the standard.
Another significant public result is the extensive review of regulations, codes and standards (RCS) in multiple markets: at almost 600 pages, the document details the implications of existing RCS for StasHH' own standards.
All FCM manufacturers have provided the design of the modules they will build in the project (except Hyundai, who just joined the consortium). A key feature of the project is the presence of many competing companies, which requires extra attention to confidentiality issues. These modules will be subject to Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) and Site Acceptance Tests (SAT) that have specifically been defined for the project by the testing partners and FCM manufacturers.
The project has received significant attention from the industry, and many vehicle manufacturers requested to be involved. The project set up an Advisory Board including companies such as Airbus, Bosch, cellcentric, Colruyt, Engie and Mahle, but given the overwhelming interest an exploitation group was set up to keep contact with all other companies interested in the standard.
The rest of the project will focus on the construction of prototype modules and their testing and evaluation by independent organisations in Germany and the Netherlands; the project will develop its own test rigs with specific and rigorous safety procedures.
Ship and vehicle manufacturers will produce a report on best practices for the integration of StasHH FCMs in their products, and at least one module will be deployed in a heavy-duty operational demonstration.
Based on the experiences in the project, the standard will be refined and submitted to international standard bodies. The second half of the project will see an increased focus on dissemination toward the industry, which will be critical to ensure the impact of the standard.
Ship and vehicle manufacturers will produce a report on best practices for the integration of StasHH FCMs in their products, and at least one module will be deployed in a heavy-duty operational demonstration.
Based on the experiences in the project, the standard will be refined and submitted to international standard bodies. The second half of the project will see an increased focus on dissemination toward the industry, which will be critical to ensure the impact of the standard.