The Hydrogen Strategy for Canada (the “Strategy”) identified that harmonizing hydrogen codes and standards and addressing gaps is essential to enable low-carbon hydrogen adoption and deployment. Developing codes and standards was one of the Strategy’s key pillars, with four corresponding recommendations for action addressed to governments, industry, and Standards Development Organizations (SDOs). Gaps in codes and standards can present a significant obstacle to widespread clean hydrogen production, delivery and storage, and end-use. Such challenges need to be addressed at an early stage to establish a strong foundation for clean hydrogen deployment across Canada.
To act on the Strategy’s recommendations, NRCan established several working groups. The Canadian Hydrogen Codes and Standards Working Group (CSWG) was established in April 2021 as part of that effort. CSWG members included governments, industry associations, businesses, regulatory authorities, end-users, and accredited SDOs. This Roadmap is a key deliverable of the CSWG to address the Strategy priority and is a call to action for the development of hydrogen standards. Its content will serve a wide audience, ranging from the general public to technical specialists and policymakers. The sections are as follows:
- Sections 1 and 2 provide information on why and how this Roadmap was developed;
- Section 3 contain the most detailed and technical information, where hydrogen professionals can find descriptions of standards gaps for a multitude of specific hydrogen technologies and processes;
- Section 4 summarise the results of this Roadmap’s work;
- Section 5 call to action the decision-makers and stakeholders that can make meaningful policy-related change to achieve Canada’s hydrogen codes and standards goals.
