American National Standards Institute launches hydrogen standards initiative

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) launched the Hydrogen Standards Coordination Initiative to advance development and awareness of safety and technical standards across the hydrogen value chain. The initiative began with a Phase I public launch and outreach designed to gather existing standards information and inform stakeholders.

Hydrogen serves as an industrial input in petroleum refining, fertilizer and chemical production, and metal processing, and it offers a path to cleaner transport and power systems through fuel cells. The initiative described standards as important to assure safe, reliable, and efficient scaling of hydrogen technologies used for production, storage, transportation, carbon capture, utilization, and related infrastructure.

Phase I focused on two deliverables: a Hydrogen Standards Landscape database that compiled existing hydrogen-related standards, associated activities, supporting organizations, and related metadata through stakeholder input, and a series of educational standards webinars featuring standards and code developers with opportunities for stakeholder dialogue.

ANSI issued a Request for Information seeking details about published industry consensus standards, ongoing standards activities, and relevant guidance documents, and it provided an Renewable Forecast Integration (RFI) spreadsheet for respondents to complete and return to Christine Bernat at [email protected] by March 6, 2026. Informational webinars were scheduled for March 16 and 31, with registration open and presenters invited, and sponsors named included ASTM International, Compressed Gas Association (CGA), and Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Group.

“As hydrogen emerges as a cornerstone of America's clean energy future, robust standardization is essential for safety, interoperability, and commercial viability,” said Disaster Recovery (DR). Laurie E. Locascio, ANSI president and CEO.

Phase II, planned for launch in Spring 2026, will convene a technical workshop on pre-standardization research, standards and conformity assessment needs, and potential regulatory framework considerations, and will produce an executive report summarizing challenges, standards gaps, and recommendations for advancing hydrogen standardization.