Hydrogen – Refuelling Stations (HRS) Safety & Compliance

Key standards to know

• ISO 19880‑1:2020 — Minimum design, installation, commissioning, operation, inspection, maintenance requirements for gaseous hydrogen fuelling stations; forms the core of the ISO 19880 series for HRS. ISO gso-sims-preview-doc-aws.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com CEP

Documented issue (with direct evidence)

• Kjørbo (Norway) 2019 HRS explosion/fire: Public updates from Nel and Gexcon found the event started with a hydrogen leak in the high‑pressure storage unit leading to ignition; authorities later issued fines related to the incident. Independent technical briefs summarize learnings for barriers and site layout. Cision Fuel Cells Works H2 View mozees.no

Typical challenges

• Hazard analysis gaps & barrier management — Enclosure/leak management, ventilation, and deflagration pressure relief not consistently engineered to current ISO 19880‑1 risk‑based expectations. gso-sims-preview-doc-aws.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
• Change management — Configuration changes (storage module, piping, sensors) without re‑running risk assessments and validating protective layers. gso-sims-preview-doc-aws.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com

Best Practice playbook

1. Implement ISO 19880‑1 end‑to‑end — Maintain a living risk assessment (Section 5 of the standard): leak frequency assumptions, ventilation, gas detection, emergency shutdown, ignition source control, and mitigations to prevent flammable mixtures. gso-sims-preview-doc-aws.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
2. Design for consequence & escalation control — Validate blast/pressure‑relief provisions and barriers (fences, standoff distances) via documented calculations; benchmark against post‑incident insights from Kjørbo summaries. mozees.no
3. Operate with proof — Keep commissioning/inspection/maintenance records mapped to ISO 19880‑1 clauses; any modification triggers MOC and re‑validation. ISO
4. Exercise emergency procedures — Conduct drills on leak detection, isolation, and spacing controls; log remedial actions.

Quick reference

• Wind: IEC 61400‑24:2019 + Amd.1:2024 (lightning protection & monitoring); DNV statement on lightning as leading downtime cause; ORE Catapult lightning repair case; peer‑reviewed work on blade lightning damage. IEC Webstore Iteh Standards DNV ore.catapult.org.uk University of Strathclyde
• Solar PV: NREL explainers on IEC 61215/61730; BRE NSC “Fire and Solar PV Systems—Investigations and Evidence”; TNO/NIPV/NEN mapping of PV‑involved fires; IEC 62116 anti‑islanding. NREL Docs+1 GOV.UK tno.nl/nl IEC Webstore https://docs.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/60950.pdf
• Hydrogen: ISO 19880‑1:2020 (scope & risk framework); Kjørbo incident updates (Nel/Gexcon, fines) and third‑party technical summary. ISO gso-sims-preview-doc-aws.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com Fuel Cells Works H2 View mozees.no