Compatibility of Distribution non-steel metallic gas grid materials with hydrogen
HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022-02-01
- Programme
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- March 31, 2022
- Deadline
- September 20, 2022
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €121,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €7,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €7,000,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 1
- Keywords
- Chemical engineeringMaterials engineeringMechanical engineeringCivil engineeringnon-steel metallichydrogengrid materials
Description
In its strategic vision for a climate-neutral EU (to meet the carbon neutrality in 2050) presented by the European Commission on 28th November 2018, the share of hydrogen in Europe’s energy mix is projected to grow from the current less than 2% to 13-14% by 2050. In order for hydrogen to claim such position in the energy mix and as explicitly mentioned in the EU Hydrogen Strategy[1], it is essential that hydrogen becomes an intrinsic part of an integrated energy system. Hydrogen will have to be used for daily or seasonal storage providing buffering functions thereby enhancing security of supply in the medium term. The strategy also calls for an EU-wide logistical infrastructure that needs to be developed in order to transport hydrogen from areas with large renewable potential to demand centres across Europe. Consequently, a pan-European grid will have to be established.
To do so there is significant energy system benefit in using existing natural gas assets across Europe, as they have large seasonal storage potential and can also readily manage large swings in daily demand. To supply this hydrogen, European gas grid operators aim to increase the content of hydrogen blends into natural gas from in existing gas grids (including transmission and distribution gas networks but also by extension their connections to hydrogen production facilities and new end users). In parallel, European gas grid operators also work on repurposing existing assets to transport 100% hydrogen.
Considering these challenges, project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- De-risking of business case for repurposing of existing European gas grids for hydrogen and enabling expansion of new dedicated infrastructures for pure hydrogen;
- Increased operator, regulator, authorities, and end user confidence in safety of repurposed gas grids by consolidated and exhaustive scientific data;
- Making available harmonised guidelines to assess the hydrogen effect on metallic materials present in the gas grids to get a complete view of network compatibility. These guidelines would provide inputs to pre-normative actions conducted through European organisations and enable a seamless interconnection between gas grids.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following objectives of the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA:
- Development of technologies and materials to facilitate the transportation of hydrogen via the natural gas grid.
- Enable through research and demonstration activities the transportation of hydrogen through the natural gas grid either by blending or via repurposing to 100% hydrogen.
Former public bibliographic results and testing programs (e.g. NaturalHY[2], HYready[3], MultiHy[4] or Higgs[5] projects) have identified an embrittlement effect on steel grid materials used for pipes or network equipment, directly linked to the partial pressure of hydrogen (commonly expressed in terms of percentage of hydrogen in the total volume of gas at a specific pressure). However, this embrittlement effect on the various metallic materials used on the gas distribution networks (steel, but also cast iron, copper, lead…) has not been documented to date, as most existing testing programs have investigated non-metallic materials only. Therefore, there is a strong need to document the effect of hydrogen on metallic materials at low pressure, taking into account the great diversity of existing networks across the European Union, in terms of material grades used, building protocols (e.g. welds) or day-to-day current and future operational parameters (e.g. pressure level).
All types of metallic materials (steel, cast iron, copper, brass, lead, aluminium) or operational parameters representative of the functioning of the distribution networks have not been fully studied. All gas grids characteristics and load case scenarios should be covered to better assess the lifespan of existing infrastructure.
Currently different standards can be used for the design of metallic components (ISO 11114-4, ASME B31.12) or to assess their mechanical properties in the presence of hydrogen (ANSI/CSA CHMC 1, ASTM G142). This wide range of standards and the lack of commonly agreed mechanical guidelines are slowing down the definition of harmonised criteria to assess hydrogen-readiness of European gas networks.
Proposals should therefore focus on all non-steel metallic materials constitutive of Distribution networks (such as cast iron, copper, brass, lead, aluminium etc.).
In particular proposals should:
- Deliver a preliminary inventory of non-steel metallic materials constitutive of the European distribution natural gas grid and deliver a priority ranking analysis to evaluate the most cost-efficient strategy (adaptation or replacement) for each of them;
- Propose a testing approach covering most relevant non-steel metallic grades (cast iron, copper, brass, lead, aluminium) constitutive of European distribution natural gas grids and their different operating conditions (maximum pressure, pressure cycling, etc.). Proposals should cover an extensive range of natural gas/hydrogen blends with a focus on hydrogen contents up to 20%, and 100%. This approach should combine mechanical tests and modelling, e.g. using first principles calculations or fracture mechanics method of hydrogen interaction with the materials. A preliminary bibliographic review should be conducted to identify the gap analysis at the start of the action, taking into account existing results from former and other ongoing projects;
- Propose harmonised protocols and run material tests to measure the mechanical properties affected by the presence of hydrogen and critical for its integration into networks (should include e.g. crack propagation, fatigue, toughness, and impacts on welds and heat affected zones (HAZ)) and impact of chemical composition for grid components. The protocols should be made available to the public and should ensure that all results are comparable between the different testing laboratories involved. It should also, serve as a standardised reference guideline for future investigations.
Following the testing activities proposals should make available a database of gas grid metallic materials’ behaviour in the presence of hydrogen associated with network operating conditions, assessing the compatibility of vintage and new gas pipes. There should also be a plan that ensures the that the database is updated after the project is finished with future testing results.
Projects should also identify acceptance criteria including the allowed size of defects, depending on the pressure and hydrogen concentration.
Proposals should ensure regular knowledge sharing with other topics devoted to hydrogen injection into gas grids that will require those tests’ results, and especially HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022-02-02, HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022-05-03 and HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022-05-04.
At least two different research institutions should be included in the consortium in order to ensure the comparability of the testing results.
Proposals are expected to contribute towards the activities of Mission Innovation 2.0 - Clean Hydrogen Mission. Cooperation with entities from Clean Hydrogen Mission member countries, which are neither EU Member States nor Horizon Europe Associated countries, is encouraged (see section 2.2.6.8 International Cooperation).
Activities are expected to start at TRL 3 and achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project.
The conditions related to this topic are provided in the chapter 2.2.3.2 of the Clean Hydrogen JU 2022 Annual Work Plan and in the General Annexes to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021–2022 which apply mutatis mutandis.
[1]https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/hydrogen_strategy.pdf
[2]https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/502661/es
[3]https://www.gerg.eu/project/hydrogen/
[4]https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/263335
[5]https://www.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu/projects-repository_en
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System
Additional condition: For all Innovation Actions the page limit of the applications are 70 pages.
2. Eligible countries: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
Additional eligibility condition: Maximum contribution per topic
For some topics, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, an additional eligibility criterion has been introduced to limit the Clean Hydrogen JU requested contribution mostly for actions performed at high TRL level, including demonstration in real operation environment and with important involvement from industrial stakeholders and/or end users such as public authorities. Such actions are expected to leverage co-funding as commitment from stakeholders. It is of added value that such leverage is shown through the private investment in these specific topics. Therefore, proposals requesting contributions above the amounts specified per each topic below will not be evaluated:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-07 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 9.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-03 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 30.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-05 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 15.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-01 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 7.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-01 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 25.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-02 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 8.00 million
Additional eligibility condition: Membership to Hydrogen Europe/Hydrogen Europe Research
For some topics, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, an additional eligibility criterion has been introduced to ensure that one partner in the consortium is a member of either Hydrogen Europe or Hydrogen Europe Research. This concerns topics targeting actions for large-scale demonstrations, flagship projects and strategic research actions, where the industrial and research partners of the Clean Hydrogen JU are considered to play a key role in accelerating the commercialisation of hydrogen technologies by being closely linked to the Clean Hydrogen JU constituency, which could further ensure full alignment with the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda of the Industry and the SRIA188 of the JU. This approach shall also ensure the continuity of the work performed within projects funded through the H2020 and FP7, by building up on their experience and consolidating the EU value-chain. This applies to the following topics:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-07
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-08
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-10
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -02-08
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-03
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-05
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-01
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-01
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-02
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -07-01
Additional eligibility condition: Participation of African countries
For one topic the following additional eligibility criteria have been introduced to allow African countries to i) participate in proposal, ii) be eligible for funding and iii) ensure a sufficient geographical coverage of the African continent. This concerns the following topic:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -05-5
Manufacturing Readiness Assessment
For some topics a definition of Manufacturing Readiness Level has been introduced in the Annexes of the Annual Work Programme. This is necessary to evaluate the status of the overall manufacturing activities included in the following topics:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-04
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-01
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes
5. Evaluation and award:
- Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes
- Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual
Exemption to evaluation procedure: complementarity of projects
For some topics in order to ensure a balanced portfolio covering complementary approaches, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one additional project that is / are complementary, provided that the applications attain all thresholds
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-03
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-04
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-09
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -02-10
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-01
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-02
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-04
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-04
Seal of Excellence
For two topics the ‘Seal of Excellence’ will be awarded to applications exceeding all of the evaluation thresholds set out in this Annual Work Programme but cannot be funded due to lack of budget available to the call. This will further improve the chances of good proposals, otherwise not selected, to find alternative funding in other Union programmes, including those managed by national or regional Managing Authorities. With prior authorisation from the applicant, the Clean Hydrogen JU may share information concerning the proposal and the evaluation with interested financing authorities, subject to the conclusion of confidentiality agreements. In this Annual Work Programme ‘Seal of Excellence’ will be piloted for topics:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-01
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-02
- Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes
In addition to the standard provisions, the following specific provisions in the model grant agreement will apply:
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), background and results, access rights and rights of use (article 16 and Annex 5 of the Model Grant Agreement (MGA)).
- An additional information obligation has been introduced for topics including standardisation activities: ‘Beneficiaries must, up to 4 years after the end of the action, inform the granting authority if the results could reasonably be expected to contribute to European or international standards’. These concerns the topics below:
Additional information obligation for topics including standardisation activities
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -02-09
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-04
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -05-02
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -05-03
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -05-04
- For all topics in this Work Programme Clean Hydrogen JU shall have the right to object to transfers of ownership of results, or to grants of an exclusive licence regarding results, if: (a) the beneficiaries which generated the results have received Union funding; (b) the transfer or licensing is to a legal entity established in a non-associated third country; and (c) the transfer or licensing is not in line with Union interests. The grant agreement shall contain a provision in this respect.
Full capitalised costs for purchases of equipment, infrastructure or other assets purchased specifically for the action
For some topics, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, mostly large-scale demonstrators or flagship projects specific equipment, infrastructure or other assets purchased specifically for the action (or developed as part of the action tasks) can exceptionally be declared as full capitalised costs. This concerns the topics below:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-07: electrolyser and other hydrogen related equipment essential for implementation of the project, (e.g. compression of hydrogen, storage and any essential end-use technology)
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-08: electrolyser, its BoP and any other hydrogen related equipment essential for the implementation of the project (e.g. hydrogen storage)
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-10: electrolyser, its BOP and any other hydrogen related equipment essential for implementation of the project (e.g. offshore infrastructure, renewable electricity supply infrastructure, storages, pipelines and other auxiliaries required to convey and utilise the hydrogen)
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -02-08: compression prototype/s and related components
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-03: trucks, fuel cell system, on-board hydrogen storage and other components needed in a hydrogen truck
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-05: vessels, fuel cell system, on-board hydrogen storage and other components needed in a hydrogen fuel cell hydrogen vessel
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-01: manufacturing equipment and tooling
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-01: hydrogen production plant, distribution and storage infrastructure and hydrogen end-uses
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-02: hydrogen production plant, distribution and storage infrastructure and hydrogen end-uses
Specific conditions
7. Specific conditions: described in the chapter 2.2.3.2 of the Clean Hydrogen JU 2022 Annual Work Plan
Documents
CALL UPDATE: FLASH CALL INFO
Call documents:
Application form — As well available in the Submission System from March 31st 2022
- Application form - Part B (HE CleanH2 RIA, IA)
- Application form - Part B (HE CleanH2 CSA)
Evaluation forms
- Evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Model Grant Agreement (MGA)
Clean Hydrogen JU - Annual Work Programme 2022 (AWP 2022)
- AWP 2022
Clean Hydrogen JU - Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA)
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 13. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
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