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Position papers 18 September 2020

The JP FCH KPIs

EERA JP FCH and Hydrogen Europe Research publish a joint effort on Research KPIs for hydrogen technologies

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a composite metric that is tied to targets and that indicates how an organization, process or technology is performing relative to a specific objective. KPIs are being increasingly used as independent, even technology-neutral means of establishing progress in research, development and innovation pathways towards the ultimate result of deployment and market uptake. However, defining meaningful KPIs for highly specialised and granular processes such as low-to-medium-TRL research is a challenging task, as the pathways from there to a desired high-level result (such as a given system efficiency, or operational cost) can be diverse and convoluted.

As a result of over a year of in-depth discussions and following up from the JP FCH Implementation Plan for hydrogen and fuel cell research up to 2030, this exercise has achieved a first milestone, and a comprehensive list of scientific KPIs has been formulated, in collaboration with the association Hydrogen Europe Research. Referring to the high-level KPIs that were formulated within in the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) during Horizon 2020, the research KPIs have been organised in symmetry with the structure of the EERA JP FCH, addressing those key scientific areas that make up the challenge towards a fully operational and sustainable hydrogen economy. Targets have been defined for progress in electrolyte research, electrodes and catalysts, stacking and system design, modelling and validation approaches, (non-electrolytic) hydrogen production and hydrogen storage.

The full document of KPIs for fuel cells, electrolysers and hydrogen technologies can be reached here, and together with Hydrogen Europe Research this will be a living document that will be referenced to, updated and improved - both in terms of methodology as in terms of significance - as real research projects will contribute more and more to the materialising market of hydrogen and its multiple applications.