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.