HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2026

Expected Outcome:

To achieve the Clean Hydrogen JU's objective of accelerating hydrogen deployment across multiple sectors, the development of flexible, interoperable, and standardised hydrogen storage systems is critical. The proposed topic aims to reduce the entry barrier for OEMs, especially SMEs, by delivering a modular and standardised approach to hydrogen storage integration. Standardising storage systems, connections and control systems is important to help new and advanced hydrogen storage technologies grow. It sets a unified framework that makes it easier and faster to implement innovative storage systems and materials in different applications. Standardisation supports a wider use of next-generation hydrogen solutions, in line with the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) goals.

While the StasHH project developed standard fuel-cell modules that can be easily integrated by OEMs into their vehicles, a similar solution does not exist for hydrogen storage, which can present a similar hurdle for OEMs.

Fuel-cell manufacturers have noted OEMs often engineer in-house with custom, incompatible solutions. This places a significant burden on OEMs, who need to integrate hydrogen storage solutions into their products, requiring significant experience and know-how. Standardised storage solutions with clear boundaries and requirements will allow OEMs to include hydrogen storage into their designs faster and with less effort, enabling also smaller OEMs to deploy hydrogen-fuelled prototypes.

The project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• Availability of modular hydrogen storage solutions based on a limited set of standardised block sizes, suitable for use across a wide spectrum of heavy-duty applications, such as trucks, trains, buses, off-road vehicles, ships, and stationary generators. The solution should allow extending the storage capability across the full range of applications;
• Interoperability between different OEM components through standardised physical interfaces and communication protocols;
• Lowered development and innovation costs for OEMs developing their first hydrogen prototypes;
• Standardised refuelling procedures that can be automatically adapted by hydrogen refuelling stations based on the actual composition and capacity of the storage system;
• Increased safety and efficiency in deployment by simplifying installation, validation, and regulatory approval of hydrogen systems;
• European and international standardisation activities, including CEN/CENELEC, ISO or SAE, and alignment with ongoing regulatory frameworks;
• Harmonisation of technical standards as well as certification and approval for hydrogen storage across the EU;
• Improve public trust and acceptance of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles and vessels.

Project results are expected to contribute to the following objectives and KPIs of the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA:

• Supporting and accelerating the wide roll out of FC HDVs;
• Improvements in design and monitoring procedures of FC systems;
• Prototyping activities, development of control, diagnostic and prognostic procedure, interfaces between sub-systems and integration;
• Storage tank CAPEX targets: 500 €/kg (CH2), 320 €/kg (LH2); these numbers refer to mass production.
• Gravimetric capacity: 7% (CH2), 12% (LH2);
• Volumetric capacity: 45 gH2/litre (LH2);
• Conformability: 55% (LH2).

For the technologies for which the SRIA does not provide KPIs, proposals should define their own based on the state of the art.

Additionally, projects should address the following supplementary KPIs:

• Demonstrate modular storage units that are interoperable across, at least three different OEM systems or platforms;
• For the technologies for which this is relevant, the energy consumption for defueling and hydrogen preconditioning in kWh/kgH2 and its nature (electricity, heating, cooling, …) and its impact on TCO.

Scope:

The scope of this topic is to develop a flexible and standardised hydrogen storage interface that supports the integration of multiple storage technologies and is easily deployable across mobility sectors, with possible spillovers on stationary applications. The interface should provide a limited set of basic sizes for the storage units (joinable to reach an adequate capacity for each specific application); this set should be as small as possible to simplify hydrogen storage manufacturing, and as large as necessary to cover relevant mobility applications. Proposals should build on the outcomes of StasHH (Standard-Sized Heavy-Duty Hydrogen) and extend the concept toward hydrogen storage. Projects should include at least compressed hydrogen and may include other storage forms such as liquid hydrogen, cryo-compression, metal hydrides, ammonia followed by cracking systems, or methanol followed by reforming technologies, LOHC, or any other.

Proposals should develop storage technologies that achieve safety levels equal to or exceeding the current state of the art; the topic covers pre-normative research into any engineering solution for hydrogen storage, including compressed, liquefied, cryo-compressed, metal hydrides, and hydrogen carriers such as ammonia, methanol and LOHC, etc.

There is no requirement that the stored hydrogen is to be used in a fuel cell in a demonstration; any use of hydrogen, including combustion, is acceptable. However, the storage system should output hydrogen at conditions acceptable for usage with fuel cells (purity, temperature, pressure etc.). While the topic allows the use of hydrogen for combustion-based applications, fuel cell compatibility should be prioritised. Any combustion-related activities, if chosen and proposed, should clearly demonstrate alignment with SRIA objectives and justification for their relevance in the targeted use case.

Proposals should address:

• Development of standardised containers/modules for hydrogen storage for at least gaseous and one other storage technology, using standardised interfaces;
• Design of universal mechanical and digital interfaces enabling plug-and-play integration. These interfaces should be compatible across different storage technologies to allow OEMs to easily swap storage technology;
• Demonstration of compressed hydrogen storage and of another technology on at least two TRL 7 prototypes. Prototypes should be heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks, trains, buses, off-road vehicles or ships; these do not need to operate on fuel cells, but in case of hydrogen storage based on chemically bound hydrogen (ammonia, methanol, LOHC, etc.) the storage system should be able to produce FC-grade hydrogen. Each prototype should store at least 25 kg of hydrogen;
• Proposed storage solution(s) should have modular and/or scalable structure that can be flexibly configured to accommodate the spatial, structural and operational constraints specific to the selected application, e.g. rail, maritime, off-road and heavy-duty road transport;
• At least one demonstration should be run with two different hydrogen storage technologies, which can be replaced without significant modification of the host prototype to validate the flexibility in terms of the ability of both technologies to operate with the same interface;
• Validation of system safety and performance under real-world operational conditions. Safety should be thoroughly assessed with explosion prevention and mitigation strategies, with an approach applicable to all possible storage configurations;
• Quantify the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the solution compared to the state of the art and perform a life-cycle analysis of the solution; the life-cycle analysis should include the hydrogen production step;
• Testing campaigns to be conducted at system-level, lasting at least a total of 6 months, including at least one operational demonstrator above 50 kg usable H₂ capacity;
• Submission of the standard to a relevant standard institute (ISO, IEC or similar), also beyond the EU.

The design should be compatible with all requirements of the specified application, such as durability, exposure to harsh environments, vibrations, accelerations, refuelling/bunkering safety, fire safety, etc. Modifications of standard storage units for specific applications may be acceptable as variants if they entail low costs and effort by the manufacturer, and do not compromise compatibility and reusability.

Proposals should elaborate on the potential technological scalability and applicability in domains other than those demonstrated, e.g. stationary systems or different means of transportation (road, rail, marine, aviation, etc.). Particularly, applicants are encouraged to consider maritime applications and to create synergies with the relevant initiatives such as Waterborne Technology Platform and ZEWT partnership projects, to make sure there is an alignment with ongoing developments in waterborne sector. Furthermore, depending on the application addressed, synergies with other partnerships such be explored, e.g EU-Rail JU (rail) or 2ZERO Partnership (road).

Involvement of a representative set of stakeholders including OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, system integrators, and end-users, as well as standardisation bodies , formal notified bodies and regulators is encouraged. Consortia should include manufacturers of the relevant hydrogen storage systems, system integrators and end users; they may also include fuel-cell system OEMs and mobility OEMs if appropriate.

Proposals are expected to demonstrate the contribution to EU competitiveness and industrial leadership of the activities to be funded including but not limited to the origin of the equipment and components as well infrastructure purchased and built during the project. These aspects will be evaluated and monitored during the project implementation.

Proposals should consider circularity and recyclability of the storage units and support a clear pathway toward certification and future commercialisation.

Note that, while the SRIA mentions consistently FC HDVs, HDVs based on hydrogen combustion engines are not excluded from this topic.

Proposals should provide a preliminary draft on hydrogen safety planning and management at the project level.

For additional elements applicable to all topics please refer to section 2.2.3.2

Activities are expected to start at TRL 5 and achieve TRL 7 by the end of the project - see General Annex B.

At least one partner in the consortium must be a member of either Hydrogen Europe or Hydrogen Europe Research.

The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 5.00 million – proposals requesting Clean Hydrogen JU contributions above this amount will not be evaluated.

Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects