TUV SUD Japan is an internationally certification body registered as a company in Japan. In December of last year it was commissioned by the Japan Petroleum Energy Center, a general, incorporated foundation, for “A survey related to the rationalization of the regulations regarding hydrogen stations overseas.” In accordance with this request, TUV SUD Japan compiled a mid-term report. During the course of this year, the company plans once again to conduct a survey of the overseas market and to come out with a final report.

TUV SUD is headquartered in Germany, and is certified internationally. It has over 600 offices worldwide, with more than 17,000 employees around the world committed to optimizing technology, systems, and know-how. It is engaged in consulting and training. It is strongly positioned to gather information concerning fuel cell vehicles (FCV) and the hydrogen supply infrastructure in Europe. In Germany in particular, as of last November there were 25 hydrogen stations in existance, of which 12 were public stations capable of being used.

In view of all of this, JPEC requested the TUV SUD Japanese affiliate, TUV SUD Japan, to conduct a survey of the current status of public hydrogen stations in Germany, with a focus on the following 7 topics:

An outline of the German legal system (regarding FCV)
The safely valves of the cylinders used for vehicles transporting compressed hydrogen
The distance from the dispensers to the public highways
Self service hydrogen filling stations
The explosion protection distance in the vicinity of the dispensers
Controlling 70 MPa filling and the protocols for this
The current status of public hydrogen filling stations in Germany
TUV SUD Japan is active in the 9 following fields: Electrical and electronics equipment, railroads, function and safety, EMC/telecommunications, management systems, the automotive area, smart cards, medical equipment, and industrial services.

It was found that the hydrogen stations operating in Germany based on European concepts of standards and safety can be built more cheaply than stations based on Japanese regulations. The idea is that comparing the differences between this area and Japan and examining them they would like to bring about a reduction in the cost of constructing hydrogen stations in Japan.

TUV SUD Japan, noted, ”Concerning hydrogen stations, up to now we have been widely engaged in various topics ranging from the testing and certification of hydrogen stations to the design of safe stations, operation, and maintenance. This is a service which takes advantage of our experience, and we would like this to contribute to the development of the market.”