The purpose of the EU QualyGridS project was to roll out a single standardized qualification testing protocol for all EU countries to determine an electrolyzer`s capacity to contribute to grid balancing services. Rapid demand-side management and the ability to effectively maintain constant demand over sufficiently long time periods were among the balancing services included in the tests.

The protocol was tested on pilot equipment, including equipment at CEA-Liten. The results indicate that electrolyzers should be able to support the majority of grid balancing services if certain technical adjustments are made, such as to the command-control systems.

Ultimately, the qualification testing protocol is intended for use by electrolyzer manufacturers and operators. In the near term it could be used in demonstrator projects for which there is a need to test how an electrolyzer could support grid balancing services. The finalized testing protocol is available here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3937273

Additionally, CEA-Liten is engaged in efforts to transform the protocol into a set of standards for this type of qualification testing with ISO/TC 197 on hydrogen technologies.

CEA-Liten also completed a country-by-country economic analysis, also for the QualyGridS project, to provide further insights into how using electrolyzers to support grid balancing services would look operationally and what benefits it could bring the grid. The analysis also allowed the positive financial impact for an electrolyzer operator to be estimated, again, on a country-by-country basis.