WP1 Target group and training module definition - … · WP1 Target group and training module definition ... a market analysis based on existing ... uninterruptible power supplies)

KNOWHY

Grant agreement no. : 621222

Deliverable No: D1.1

WP1 Target group and training module

definition

Status: F

(D-Draft FD-Final Draft F-Final)

Dissemination level: PU

(PU– Public, PP – Restricted to other programme participants, RE – Restricted to a

group specified by the consortium, CO – Confidential)

D1.1 Target group and training module definition

Grant Agreement no. 621222 2

Author: TUD

Contributes:

Date of this document: 21/10/2016

FHa

FSV

TUM

EP

CA

U B’HAM

IST

Kiwa

D1.1 Target group and training module definition


TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 3

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 4

2. Methodology ............................................................................................................... 4

3. Market Analysis Outcomes ......................................................................................... 5

3.1. Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Applications ................................................................. 5

3.2. Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Job Opportunities ........................................................16

3.3. Existing training in FC&H2 ..................................................................................22

4. KnowHy course content .............................................................................................26

4. Conclusions ...............................................................................................................29

TABLE OF FIGURES – Fuel Cells shipment per application over the period 2009-2012. Values for 2013 are forecasted (Fuel

Cell Today, 2013). .................................................................................................................................... 7

– FC&H2 industry and related industry in United Kingdom .................................................................. 14

– HyProfessional Industrial survey on training needs (Barrau, 2012) ................................................... 17

– Jobs potential for fuel cells forklifts per job typology (DOE, 2011). ................................................... 20

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1. Introduction This deliverable presents the results of the activities performed to identify the target groups

and the topics of the courses, as foreseen in Task 1.1. The task has been performed during the

first three months of the project. The topics have been chosen analysing which fuel cell and

hydrogen (FC&H2) technologies will enter the market within 2020-2030 and giving priority to

those technologies that will have the most significant impact on the job market for what

concerns technicians and workers employment. The analysis performed could also help in

specifying what type of technicians should be addressed by the course thus defining the courses

contents. Partners have also tried to identify existing trainings on FC&H2 technologies

especially at professional and vocational level. This is done to identify gaps in the training

landscape and to verify the possibility of using existing training material.

The deliverable has been modified following its rejection after the mid-term review. Some of the

information have been modified according to the comments received by the reviewers and to

the experience gained while carrying on the project between M01 and M25. Information

provided by the partners regarding the local situations in the different European countries have

been added. More in detail, information regarding FC&H2 applications currently present or

expected to enter the market and estimates of their impact on the labor market, existing FC&H2

training initiatives and the use of existing training material for the development of KnowHy

course content have been included. In the first version of this deliverable, the exact type of

technicians targeted and the courses content were not reported. In this new version of the

deliverable, thanks to the survey performed within task 1.2 and to the partners expertise, the

courses contents and the matrix presenting the overlaps in the contents has been included.

Formally, the following partners are involved in the task: TUD, FHa, FSV, TUM, EP, CA, U B’HAM,

IST and Kiwa.

2. Methodology To decide which applications are the target of the courses, a market analysis based on existing

studies is performed. FC&H2 applications are analysed and prioritized in terms of:

Time to market Size of the market Impact on European labour force Engagement of European industry

The picture obtained is used to verify the assumptions made during the kick-off meeting on the

courses to be developed. Based on the partners expertise, the following topics were initially

suggested:

1. Transportation

2. Hydrogen production and storage

3. Forklift

4. Backup power

5. Combined heat and power

6. Micro fuel cell systems

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Moreover, from data collected in the analysis, target groups of the courses should be preliminary identified and the contents of each specialisation modules defined.

During the analysis, the existence of training courses on FC&H2 is also investigated. Number,

typology, FC&H2 applications addressed, duration and cost are parameters examined, if

available. This is done with a twofold aim. On one hand, to study the current situation to avoid

overlapping; on the other hand, to check the availability of training material that can be partially

used for KnowHy courses.

Additionally, the information collected during the market analysis is also used to refine the survey defined in “Task 1.2 – Training needs identification”. The survey, in fact, is a tool used to:

check if the assumptions made in Task 1.1 are correct; thus, if the FC&H2 applications and target groups preliminary identified after the market analysis are the most appropriate ones;

obtain additional information (i.e. specific training needs and typology of technicians and workers to be trained) that could not be obtained from the market analysis;

start a preliminary networking action.

The results obtained from the survey were used to check, modify and complete the outcomes of

Task 1.1. Following the mid-term review meeting, a new survey has been prepared. The results

of the new survey will be used in the course analysis to be performed after the first batch of the

course has run, as foreseen in WP5 task 5.2.

3. Market Analysis Outcomes A new generation of FC&H2 products is expected to hit the market in the next 5-10 years.

Besides FC&H2 products, also systems and infrastructure related to hydrogen production,

distribution and storage should be considered. In section 3.1, FC&H2 applications are analysed

in terms of time to market and size of the market while in section 3.2 their impact on European

labour force is presented. Section 3.3 presents the results of the investigation on existing FC&H2

courses.

3.1. Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Applications

Following Fuel Cell Today and E4tech’s approach, the use of fuel cells and hydrogen can be

categorized into three broad areas: Portable (auxiliary power units, military applications,

portable products, personal electronics), Stationary (large and small combined heat and power

systems, uninterruptible power supplies) and Transport (material handling vehicles, FC

vehicles, trucks and buses). Table 1 illustrates the differences between the three categories for

what concerns power range and typical FC technology used, differentiated by electrolyte type:

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC), Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC), Molten

Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFC), Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFC), Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells (PAFC) and

Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC).

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Application Type Portable Stationary Transport

Definition

Units that are built into, or charge up, products that are designed to be moved, including auxiliary power units (APU)

Units that provide electricity (and sometimes heat) but are not designed to be moved

Units that provide propulsive power or range extension to a vehicle

Typical power range

1 W to 20 kW 0.5 kW to 400 kW 1 kW to 100 W

Typical technology

PEMFC - DMFC - SOFC PEMFC - MCFC - AFC SOFC - PAFC

PEMFC - DMFC

Examples

Non-motive APU (campervans, boats, lighting), Military applications (portable soldier-borne power, skid mounted generators), Portable products (torches, battery chargers), Small personal electronics ( mp3 player, cameras)

Large stationary prime power, Large stationary combined heat and power (CHP), Small stationary micro-CHP, Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)

Material handling vehicles, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs), Trucks and Buses

Table 1 – Categorisation of FC&H2 applications (E4tech, 2014)

As stated in the Fuel Cell Industry Review 2014, the fuel cell industry is not yet fully formed.

However, looking at the worldwide situation, fuel cells are becoming well established in a

number of markets and as a matter of fact, fuel cell industry is growing. Compared to the

previous years, shipments of fuel cell systems in 2012 continued to grow, reaching a total of

45,700 units. The same trend can be seen in 2013, with shipments approaching 67,000 units

(Fuel Cell Today, 2013). Figure 1 illustrates the number of shipments for each category

previously defined over the period 2009-2013. It can be seen that stationary applications

account for the vast majority of shipments, followed by portable and then transport

applications.

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Figure 1 – Fuel Cells shipment per application over the period 2009-2012. Values for 2013 are forecasted (Fuel Cell Today, 2013).

It has to be noted that 2013 values shown in the graph are probably higher than actual values

due to a lower number of SOFC CHP systems shipped for the Ene-Farm project. Assembled and

projected data for 2014 show a marginal increase in unit shipments when compared to 2013

values; this growth is mostly due to portable applications (E4tech, 2014).

Following, a more detailed overview of FC&H2 current status and predictions divided by

application is presented to have a better picture of the size of the market and some of the

stakeholders involved.

Transport sector

The attention of research and industry has been heavily focused on cars. The potential for FCEV

is very high. Over the next 40 years, the world will probably move from a single power-train, the

internal combustion engine (ICE), to a mix of power-trains in which BEVs (Battery Electric

Vehicles) and FCEVs play a complementary role: BEVs are ideally suited for smaller cars and

shorter trips and FCEVs for medium/larger cars and longer trips. With a driving range and

performance comparable to ICEs, FCEVs are the cleanest solution for medium/larger cars and

long trips. These car segments account for 50% of all cars which means a potential of around 6

million new vehicles every year (ICCT, 2013; McKinsey & Company, 2012). With more than 500

passenger cars covering over 15 million kilometres and undergoing 90,000 refueling, FCEVs are

now considered to have been comprehensively tested in a customer environment. Therefore,

the focus has recently shifted from demonstration to commercial deployment so that FCEVs, like

all technologies, may benefit from mass production and the economies of scale (McKinsey &

Company, 2012).

Several major automobile manufactures announced definitive plans to introduce FCEVs into the

market in 2014-2017. Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai all confirmed plans to introduce production

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vehicles in 2014 or 2015 in Korea, Japan, Northern Europe, and California. Hyundai announced

it would produce 1,000 fuel cell Tucson vehicles and has already shipped a number to Denmark

during 2013. Moreover, this same company is delivering a number of the new ix35 FCEV

worldwide, including North European countries. Daimler postponed the release to 2017, citing a

partnership with Ford and Renault-Nissan (E4tech, 2014). Volkswagen started a collaboration

with Ballard and a partnership with SAIC, a partner of General Motors’ fuel cell programme.

BMW announced a memorandum of understanding with Toyota for what concerns advanced

drivetrains, thus suggesting the probable adoption of fuel cells on some of their vehicles.

HyProfessionals Deliverable 8, quoting the results of an analysis done by Pike Research, predicts

a global 1 million FCEV by 2020 (Barrau, 2012).

Besides personal transportation, also MHV (Material Handling Vehicles) represent a significant

share of the transport applications. According to Fuel Cells 2000, more than 4,000 fuel cell

forklifts are in use in the U.S. today. On paper, Europe has a greater potential for sales of MHV,

including forklifts, than the USA, with 2011 data from the World Industrial Truck Statistics

survey reporting that the European market is 56% larger than the American one (Carter,

2013). Among the various manufacturers, Plug Power and Axade formed a joint enterprise,

HyPulsion, for the development, production and marketing in Europe of hydrogen fuel cells for

power lift trucks, thus contributing to the achievement of an estimated 10,000 MHVs (Barrau,

2012).

Hydrogen mobility requires hydrogen filling stations. By 2020, more than 5,200 hydrogen filling

stations are expected to be operational worldwide for passenger FCEVs, buses and forklifts

(Barrau, 2012). The hydrogen for the filling stations (or for other purposes) has to be produced

and stored. The North Sea Power to Gas Platform has been established to develop technologies

for the production of hydrogen using power from renewable energies. With the same objective,

30 P2G (Power to Gas) projects have been launched in Europe and Hydrogenics and E.ON

started the commercial operation of a P2G facility in Germany. Hydrogenics will also install a 1

MW storage system in Germany. Another energy storage plant will be built for the Thuga Group

by ITM Power. The same company will also operate the Hydrogen Mini Grid Sytem in UK,

converting wind power into hydrogen for vehicles and will also take part in the CommONEnergy

project, dealing with energy efficient technologies and energy storage in non-residential

buildings (The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee, 2013). Another European

company working on P2G and storage is Acta S.p.a, which recently signed an agreement with the

Ecoisland Partnership to provide an electrolyser and an hydrogen storage tank for residential

use. Also Air Liquide will contribute to the use of electrolysers for P2G since, as part of its Blue

Hydrogen initiative, it has committed to provide at least 50% of hydrogen without CO2

emissions using various techniques, including electrolysis of water (Barrau, 2012).

Stationary applications

Among stationary applications, micro-CHP is expected to have a significant growth in the wake

of the Japanese Ene-Farm project and the European Ene.field project. Within this project,

supported by the FCH JU, 1,000 micro-CHP units (both PEMFC and SOFC based) are expected to

be installed with the collaboration of Hexis, Vailant, Bosch, SOFCpower, Elcore, Baxi, RBZ, Ceres

Power and Dantherm Power, Sunfire, Logapower and GdF Suez. Japanese manufacturers have

launched joint ventures with European companies, namely Toshiba with Baxi, Panasonic with

Viessmann and Aisin with Bosch. Also Ceres Power is partnering with two Japanese Original

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Equipment Manufacturers and the Korean Navien (E4tech, 2014). Currently, micro-CHP

applications are mainly located in Germany, thanks to the Callux programme. Three European

based manufactures are taking part in the project, namely Hexis, Baxi and Vaillant. Also Ceramic

Fuel Cells Limited is working on the development of a new micro-CHP unit, expected to be

manufactured in Germany (E4tech, 2014). Despite the fact that SOFC and PEMFC are mostly

indicated as fuel cells for micro CHP, HyProfessionals Deliverable 8 indicates that after a

demonstration period between 2010 and 2015, also MCFC will be ready for commercial launch.

Conversely, SOFC will be in demonstration phase by 2015 and will be ready to be launched on

the market only by 2020 (Barrau, 2012). At the end of 2013, Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited also

reported an order from Synergy International in Estonia for 1000 BlueGen SOFC units over the

following two years (The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee, 2013). AFC

Energy will deliver a 500 kW AFC unit for the European Power Up Project. Regarding Italy,

Electro Power Systems (EPS) shipped over 3,000 units worldwide of its back-up power system

that incorporates the complete cycle from renewable-assisted water electrolysis to hydrogen

oxidation (IEA, 2014). When analyzing the market, it is important to consider it globally since

there is the possibility that the production (or any other stage of the chain) occurs outside

Europe but the installation takes place in Europe, or vice versa. As an example, AFC Energy

signed an agreement with Chang Shin Chemical for up to 5 MW of AFC units, while Hydrogenics

signed an agreement with Kolon for a 1 MW PEM (E4tech, 2014). Even though the final market

in both cases is Korea, the manufacturing of the systems will be performed in Europe.

Among the other stationary applications, backup and primary off-grid systems are also entering

the market. These devices are suitable for both developing and developed countries, with the

telecommunications sector as one of the most promising targets. Electro Power Systems has

579 units in service, mainly for powering telecom towers. This company is also starting to

produce a new system that combines an electrolyser generating hydrogen from renewable

energies, stores it and successively uses it in a PEM fuel cell. Also, SFC Energy is producing a

DMFC unit to power anti-collision lights of wind turbines and, together with its Canadian Simark

Controls, a unit to power oil and gas control and monitoring systems (E4tech, 2014).

Portable applications

In the 2012 Industry Review by Fuel Cell Today, a significant growth in shipments for portable

fuel cells was expected, supported by the anticipated launch of three fuel cell chargers for

consumer electronics (by myFC, Aquafairy and Horizon Fuel Cells). Only one of these devices

reached the consumer market, and its adoption was lower than expected. However, the number

of units shipped continued to increase, showing the potential in this sector (Fuel Cell Today,

2013).

Fuel cells for educational purposes belong to this category and, despite this application

continues to sell well forming an important source of cash for many companies and it is

necessary to educate future engineers and scientists, it remains difficult to assess if there is

need of technicians other than in the production phase. Concerning consumer electronics, some

companies have already started or are in the verge of selling units such as MyFC, Horizon,

Aquafairy, BIC and Intelligent Energy, with the latter announcing the production and shipment

of 50,000 units by the end of 2014 (E4tech, 2014). Horizon, SFC Energy and Fuel Cell Systems

are also targeting the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) sector with chargers for the camper van, the

caravan and the yachting market. Military organisations around the world continue to show

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interest in fuel cell technology, evaluating it as a means to significantly reduce the weight

carried by soldiers in the field. No other data on the size of this market has been found.

The fuel cell industry is formed by disparate companies, producing numerous applications and

using different technologies, with diverse routes to market and goals. The various players

appear focused on their individual areas of strength as opposed to the past when there were

companies trying to cover all the aspects. Large companies are trying to enter the largest

potential markets, which include small scale CHP and automotive applications. These big

companies are less interested in smaller markets, which includes materials handling vehicles

(mainly forklifts), power for telecommunication and portable devices, targeted by smaller

specialised companies (E4tech, 2014). Until recently, the fuel cell market has been strongly

dictated by legislation and policies. Nonetheless, there are some applications which can

compete with existing technologies even without the help of subsidies or other types of support.

These are usually small scale systems (smaller than 10 kW) which are in the transition between

niche to mainstream market. Examples are power systems for telecommunication, material

handling vehicles and portable products, together with small consumer electronics chargers.

3.1.1. The European scene

For what concerns specifically Europe, the European Hydrogen Roadmap developed in the

HyWays project, affirms that until the long-term (2050), the main markets for hydrogen end-use

applications are transport applications as passenger cars, light duty vehicles and city busses.

The Roadmap estimates the number of FCEVs to 10,000 units by 2015 and 50,000 by 2020

(HyWays, 2008). According to the Roadmap, in a first phase (2010 – 2015) around 400 single-

dispenser hydrogen filling stations will be set up to refill these vehicles. In addition to these

stations, 500 additional small hydrogen stations are required to cover the motorways linking

the user centres. In a second phase (2015-2025), some hydrogen stations will be upgraded to

more dispensers and new bigger stations will be built. The estimated number is between 13,000

and 20,000 stations across the whole Europe (HyWays, 2008). For the stationary use of

hydrogen, HyWays project has assessed its use mainly in fuel cells for CHP which can become a

relevant option for remote supply of electricity and heat as well as in complex energy

infrastructures for use in stationary appliances and transport and combined with energy

storage. However, the penetration of hydrogen in the residential and tertiary sector is expected

to be limited to remote areas and specific niches where a hydrogen infrastructure is already

present (HyWays, 2008). Also in the Deliverable 8 of HyProfessional project, forklifts, backup

power, light duty vehicles, buses and stationary power are indicated as applications expected

to enter the market with forklifts and backup power driving the demand for hydrogen in a first

period (until 2015) and the remaining entering successively (Barrau, 2012).

More recently, the Fuel Cell Industry Review 2014 has defined the European fuel cell industry as

“diverse and vibrant”, even if it has the smallest final market when compared to North America

and Asia. More specifically, fuel cells for consumer electronics, backup power and stationary

applications show the highest number of units sold. Conversely, in terms of size, the market is

dominated by stationary CHP, fuel cell buses and cars. The countries showing the most

significant contribution are United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Netherlands and Germany, which is

leading the group, especially for stationary applications (E4tech, 2014). As previously

mentioned, within Ene.field project 1,000 micro-CHP units (both PEMFC and SOFC based) are

expected to be installed. Ceramic Fuel has already sold 580 stationary units across Europe of

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which 60 micro-CHP units in UK, Netherlands and Germany were for the SOFC-PACT project and

45 BlueGen SOFC units for the Ameland Virtual Power Plant Project in the Netherlands (E4tech,

2014). Another interesting market is represented by MHV. Regarding transport applications,

currently the market of forklifts and more in general of MHV, accounts for 350,000 units sold

every year in Europe. Deployment of fuel cell forklifts in large distribution centres is increasing

and is starting to be adopted also in smaller distribution centres (E4tech, 2014). For Europe,

10,000 units are estimated by 2015. Together with these fuel cell applications, also hydrogen

storage systems and electrolysers are receiving considerable attention, due to the role they

can play in the integration of renewable energies in the current energy system. Also

HyProfessional indicates electrolyser companies, together with industrial gas companies and

large energy companies, as significant players in the market of hydrogen production.

As previously stated, besides certain applications, FC&H2 is a relatively new industry that,

therefore, needs the support of governments and the collaboration of industrial groups.

According to the report FCH JU technologies in Europe - Financial and technology outlook 2014 –

2020, the Industry Grouping of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking plans to contribute

to reach market penetration objectives set for 2020. Efforts are currently focused on four areas:

transport (FCEVs and hydrogen filling stations), Energy production (hydrogen production),

Early markets (forklift and power generation) and Heat and Power generation (Expert

Working Group, 2014). In transport area, the goal is the introduction of 500,000 FCEVs and

more than 1,000 HRS (hydrogen refueling stations). This contribution is needed to prepare for a

full market roll out, expected to start in 2020. FCH-JU aims to contribute also to the realization

of combined heat and power stationary fuel cell systems in more than 50,000 households in 100

districts and 100 industrial sites. The technology objective for hydrogen production is to reach a

50% production from renewable energies or from zero-CO2 emission sources. Also the use of

hydrogen as large scale energy storage solution, to enable the integration of fluctuating

renewable energies in the European grid, is expected to enter the market but on a longer term

(2030) (Expert Working Group, 2014). Other applications expected to enter the market in the

short period that will benefit from the FCH JU contribution are material handling vehicles

(20,000 vehicles), back-up power (20,000 systems) and portable power applications (250,000

systems) (FCH JU, 2011). More specifically, as previously illustrated, portable fuel cells have a

market potential in education applications, auxiliary power systems, recreational applications

and military applications. Consumer electronics can represent another significant market. These

same applications are indicated as ready to enter the US market in the report Hydrogen and Fuel

Cell Interagency Action Plan (Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Interagency Working Group, 2011).

Another approach to understand which technologies are ready to enter the market is by

analysing the sector of interest of the industrial stakeholders interviewed within HyProfessional

project. During the project, 72 stakeholders were interviewed, 32% were SMEs, 32% medium

and 13% big enterprises. Out of the 72 interviewees, as sector of interest 62% indicated Fuel

Cell Applications (which was used to refer to all applications excluding transport), 59%

Hydrogen Storage, 56% Hydrogen Production and Distribution. Unfortunately it is not specified

if those companies interested in the production and distribution were also involved in the

storage. Other significant sectors of interest are FCEVs, Fuel Cell Components Manufacturing

and Fuel Cell Stacks Manufacturing with 42%, 40% and 36% of the interviewees indicating

these sectors as interesting for their company, respectively (Graizzaro, 2012). It has to be noted

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that a low number of fuel cell suppliers were interviewed, indicating the low volume of

production at the time of the project.

Large differences exist among the various European countries. Thanks to the partners

knowledge of local situations and the information found in some reports, it has been possible to

analyse the situation at country level, indicating which FC&H2 technologies are currently

present in the market, which are expected to enter and the estimated numbers. Unfortunately, it

was not possible to find detailed information for all the countries.

In France, in the short term, FC&H2 entering the market will be UPS and backup power as

stationary applications and micro fuel cells for portable applications. Another promising

application area for hydrogen is the transport sector, where hydrogen can be used in FC

vehicles or, in a first transition phase, in internal combustion engines (HyWays, 2008). FCEVs

are expected to enter the market also in Belgium where, by 2015, a filling station built by DATS

24 should be operational. Moreover, European and interregional projects are expected to help

the demonstration of FC&H2 technologies. The projects SWARM, High VLOCity and HyTransit

focus on transport applications while Solvay will install a 1 MW PEM in its Antwerp plant. Also

Germany is well prepared for FC&H2 entering the market. Since 2006, the National Innovation

Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP) provided 1.4 billion to be used in

demonstration projects. Thousands of systems for on-board power supply, 500 fuel-cell heating

systems, plants for off-grid power supply, a hundred cars and 20 buses were field-tested by

2014. Regarding residential energy and on-board power supply, currently small series

production has been achieved (VDMA, 2014). Moreover, at the end of 2012, 24,000 portable

units had been sold (IEA, 2014). The largest share of the fuel cells produced in Germany remains

in the country and the export share is at the moment around 28%. Until 2020 the export share

should increase to 50% according to the expectations of the industry. The National Innovation

programme has the goal to introduce H2&FC technologies in areas vital to the German energy

supply and economy thus tatrgetting stationary CHP and secure power supply for public

authority communications and telecommunications. By 2025, NIP aims at having more than half

a million CHP systems in operation, more than 1,000 MW operating fuel cell CHP plants and

more than 25,000 reliable power supply systems in operation (VDMA, 2014). Differently from

other European countries, Germany has the scientific and industrial knowledge to cover

development, series production and marketing of FC. The yearly hydrogen production is

expected to rise from the current 175 ktons to an assumed 1,600 ktons in 2030. Hydrogenics

and E.ON started the commercial operation of a P2G facility in the country. A 1 MW storage

system will be built by Hydrogenucs and another one by ITM Power (The Hydrogen and Fuel

Cell Technical Advisory Committee, 2013). The hydrogen will mainly serve the transport sector,

planning to reach 600,000 FCEVs and 1,000 filling stations by 2020, and stationary applications

for combined heat and power production. Within the European Power Up Project, a 500 kW AFC

unit to operate on surplus hydrogen will be installed. As reported in the Fuel Cell Industry

Review 2014, there are currently 25 Hydrogen Refueling Stations (HRS) and the number will

reach the 50 installations by the end of 2015 (E4tech, 2014). The plan is to expand the network

to reach 100 public hydrogen stations in the next four years and to 400 stations by 2023 (The

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee, 2013). By 2025, more than half a million

micro CHP systems and 25,000 reliable power supply systems are expected to be operational.

Thanks to the Callux programme, as of now, up to 350 units have been installed with 150

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further units to be installed by mid-2016. Hydrogen and fuel cell technology is quickly evolving

and revolutionising the energy scene also across United Kingdom. The government is planning

to encourage the advent of this technology by supporting the necessary research and

development as well as implementing the required policies. Of course, industry will dictate the

time at which the various FCH technologies enter the market. The main markets that FCH

technology is expected to enter are the transport, stationary power, portable power and energy

storage. In the transport market, FC&H2 technology will predominantly focus on passenger cars

and material handling vehicles. The stationary power market will mainly involve distributed

generation, combined heat and power systems, remote generators and uninterruptible power

supply units. Portable power applications will look to use FC&H2 technology for battery

replacements, battery rechargers and portable generators. Energy storage will focus on using

green-powered electrolysers for hydrogen production which can be used to fuel FC-powered

applications. FCEVs are expected to enter the market starting from 2015 and reaching 1.6

million vehicles by 2030. The UK government has introduced an initiative in 2016 to promote

the rollout of fuel cell vehicles. This initiative involves a £2 million fund to encourage more

businesses to convert their fleets to hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. Essentially, public and private

sector fleets will receive up to 75% off the cost of zero-emission fuel cell electric vehicles [2].

FCEVs will be initially supported by a minimum of 65 filling stations and by 1,150 stations by

2030. In 2014, the government announced founds to create network of up to 15 stations with

50% of them obtaining their hydrogen locally using electrolysers (E4tech, 2014). In 2015, the

UK government issued funding for seven new hydrogen related projects. The £6.6 million

funding will be used for installing and commissioning 12 new hydrogen refuelling stations

across the UK as well as upgrading the existing demonstrator stations [1]. Within 2030, half of

the hydrogen required is expected to be produced via water electrolysis while the remaining by

methane steam reforming and, in a small amount, by-product hydrogen from other processes

(UK H2 Mobility, 2013). ITM Power will operate the Hydrogen Mini Grid Sytem in UK to convert

wind power into hydrogen for vehicles (The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory

Committee, 2013). For UK, it was also possible to collect data regarding the distribution of

companies in terms of which type of Fuel Cells they are working with and their interest, as

illustrated in Figure 2.

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Figure 2 – FC&H2 industry and related industry in United Kingdom

FCEVs and micro CHP are expected to dominate the early market also in Greece with hydrogen

produced via wind P2G (Power to Gas). Similarly, also in Poland the production is expected to

derive from renewable sources and the use will mainly be in transport and CHP applications.

Conversely, in Italy, hydrogen is expected to mainly be produced via methane steam reforming

due to the low initial demand and the utilization will again be mainly for transport applications.

In 2013, 10 hydrogen refueling stations were already available but not all of them were active.

The National Plan for alternative fuels envisages the realisation of 20 hydrogen refueling

stations in Italy by 2020 (10 for light and 10 for heavy vehicles), 197 refueling stations by 2025

(141 for light and 56 for heavy vehicles), mainly in those cities where hydrogen mobility trials

are already underway. The 2050 target will be of more than 5.000 hydrogen refueling stations.

The project MH2IT brings together the Italian stakeholders involved in the industrial chain of

hydrogen and fuel cells. The project supported the Italian National authorities in drafting the

plan to be sent to the European Commission by November 2016, according to the EU Directive

94/2014, concerning the deployment of an European distribution network for alternative fuels.

FC vehicles are expected to enter the market both for human and for goods transportation. In

the period 2020-2022 a maximum of 109 vehicles and 11 bus are foreseen while between 2023

and 2025 these figures will reach 229 and 29, respectively. Also stationary applications will

enter the market in both the residential and commercial sector. Hydrogen will be produced via

electrolysis using renewable power but also from steam reforming of biogas and methane. A

similar situation is envisioned for The Netherlands where hydrogen from fossil sources with

partial carbon capture will be produced mainly for the use in the transport sector. The

introduction of FC person and material handling vehicles is expected to be the initial and

dominant FC&H2 application. Transport is expected to be the dominating applications also in

Norway with 300,000 cars expected by 2030. Hydrogen demand is rapidly increasing, mainly as

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Control systems

Hybrid systems

System integration

Fuel/fuel systems

Fuel storage

Services

Materials/components

Test/sensor equipment

Venture capital/other funding

AFC

DMFC

MCFC

SOFC

PEFC

D 1.1


a fuel for cars, taxis, buses, lorries and vans and it is expected to be an alternative fuel also for

ferries. Stationary applications will play a role at small scale in remote locations without access

to the electricity grid. In addition, stationary use could be seen for offshore installation and in

areas with limited electricity grid capacity. In Finland, in the near-term phase, principle FC&H2

applications will be transport (captive fleets, specialist vehicles), stationary markets (UPS and

back-up power) and portable fuel cells. In Austria, a demonstration programme including 30

micro-CHP fuel cell systems will take place by 2014/15 (IEA, 2014). Regarding transport

applications, currently there are one public station and two non-public stations operational. In

Denmark, there are 62 domestic stationary units installed and 250 stationary large scale

installations; 652 additional units have been installed abroad by Danish companies. At the

moment, in the country there are 3 refueling stations in operation and Air Liquide announced

that it will contribute to the expansion of the network supplying four stations. Sweden counts

10 domestic stationary units, similarly to Switzerland, which at the end of 2013 had around 15

domestic stationary units, but also 10 stationary units for Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

and a large MCFC plant (IEA, 2014). Concerning Spain, portable applications like mobile

phones, UPS and APUs will be the first market FC&H2 applications for the general public

(HyWays, 2008). Besides these applications, also FCEVs will play a significant role, together

with water electrolysis from wind-produced power (Plataforma Tecnologica Espanola del

Hidrogeno y de las Pilas de Combustible, 2011). In the report “I+D+i en H2: Acciones

Prioritarias” by the “Plataforma Tecnológica Española del Hidrógeno y de las Pilas de

Combustible” a list of the priorities are to be developed by the industry can be found. The next

actions to be carried out are:

- Electrolysis for hydrogen production: o Plant construction: test benches, process for producing hydrogen-based joint

implementation of renewable energy and electrolysers. - Hydrogen distribution and storage:

o Development of processes, equipment, components: Hydrogen storage in vehicles

o Security systems application infrastructure for power distribution and battery in a decentralized manner.

o Hydrogen refueling stations implantation - Transport and hydrogen infrastructures

o Development of processes, equipment and auxiliary components primarily, systems integration as auxiliary power and propulsion vehicles. Power electronics for regulation.

o Development of a network of hydrogen filling second generation, based on the existing natural gas network with in situ reformers, and other types, covering the possible market for hydrogen vehicles.

- Stationary applications o Development of manufacturing processes for "stacks" (national) components

proprietary technology for PEMFC and SOFC. - Small and portable applications

o Development of processes, equipment, components: Storage systems and distribution of hydrogen for portable and low power applications.

o Pilot distribution and refilling of hydrogen storage systems for low power portable applications centers.

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In Portugal, industry and enterprises are at an early stage concerning technologies related to

FC&H2 and currently there is no ongoing major project focusing on the development or

implementation of FC&H2. FC for transport will be the most important end-use in the medium

term, after an initial use of H2 in internal combustion engines, with public and private

demonstration projects working as the kick-off of these technologies. FC applications for

stationary applications, such as backup power generators, have also been considered due to

their increased efficiency compared to engine generators. Existence of several remote areas in

the country may lead to a niche market for station applications. In the medium and long term,

the centralized electricity production, co- and regeneration will also be relevant end use. The

hydrogen production is estimated to be relatively low, as reported from Hyrreg project.

Industrial gas companies (for example Air Liquide, Petrogal, Praxair, Gasin, Air Product Linde)

supply hydrogen but specific information on their facilities and production capacity are sparse.

In 2010, Sinopec International delivered a steam reformer to Sines with a capacity of

90,000m3/h. In 2007 Air Liquide announced an undertaking to deliver around Nm3/hour of

hydrogen from a new unit dedicated production facility at Estarreja. Petrogal (Galp) constructed

a plant in 2002 for the production of hydrogen at the coastal refinery of Sines, one of the

greatest refineries in Europe with a distilling capacity of 10.8 million tonnes a year, or 220

thousand barrels a day. Hydrogen is mostly produced by methane steam reforming of natural

gas. The possibility of producing hydrogen with different technologies was investigated in

NEMESIS project. Regarding the transport sector, the main barrier to the widespread of private

FC vehicle is due to the production, transportation and refuelling infrastructure. For this reason,

the majority of demonstration projects in Portugal is related to the public bus sector, such as the

Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) and the Global Hydrogen Bus Platform

(HyFLEET:CUTE).

Summary

It is clear that the fuel cell applications are becoming increasingly visible and are becoming

attractive to industry and the wider society. It is also apparent that there is an increase in the

popularity of different types of fuel cells and applications. The fact that hydrogen vehicles are

hitting the market also results in increased attention to the need of more and more hydrogen

filling stations. Large scale demonstration projects such as ene.field and ene-farm is expected

significantly boost the prospects for stationary systems. In the case portable fuel cell systems,

though the market growth was not on expected lines, there is continuous increase in the

numbers of units being shipped. These all clears paints a bright picture for fuel cell industry

world over. With major Europeans projects and national initiatives, Europe is clearly a

happening place for fuel cells and fuel systems as well though large differences exist between

different countries in Europe.

3.2. Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Job Opportunities

As presented in the previous section, it is evident that in the short term certain FC&H2

applications will enter the market. The market introduction of FC&H2 technologies will result in

job opportunities for technicians and workers. However, these applications being recent, there

is a lack of training offers and, as emerged from the HyProfessional survey, it is not easy for

companies to find qualified workers, as illustrated in Figure 3, showing the results of the survey.

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Figure 3 – HyProfessional Industrial survey on training needs (Barrau, 2012)

Out of the 72 Industrial stakeholders interviewed, 59% indicated that their company needs to

train technicians on FC&H2 related activities and 56% indicated short professional training

as the most suitable form.

The same survey also revealed that technical and security aspects are the aspects of interest

of the large majority of the companies, 82% and 75% respectively (Barrau, 2012)..00

Failure of not harnessing this need would make original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and

industrial users, most of them SMEs, face an additional expense to qualify technicians exposed

to the installation, operation and maintenance of FC&H2 facilities. Another risk is that the

target audience, not having an easy and professional exposure to FC&H2 technology, can

ignore or even reject it based on prejudices as safety concerns, maturity and durability, high

investment price, complexity of operation, or lack of regulations and legislation among others.

The introduction in the market of FC&H2 applications requires workforce in both production

and after-sales services, including companies in charge of integration, monitoring of

operation, maintenance, etc. The estimation of new job positions is highly speculative since

there will be new value chains of FC&H2 companies. It has to be noted that many FC&H2

technologies will be introduced to the market as substitution for conventional products. As a

consequence, one part of these new jobs will be completely new job positions while another

part will be a transfer from already existing activity areas: there will be significant demand for

complementary training for those employees switching to FC&H2 technologies from other

activity areas, which is aligned with the idea of life-long training. Nonetheless, the need for

training is obviously necessary in both cases. Moreover, from the analysis of the applications

entering the market, it is clear that industrial users may belong to a wide spectrum of sectors,

from public transport companies, telecom, data servers, logistic warehouses, and in the medium

to long term, plumbers, electricians, environmental (thermal) comfort installers, petrol stations,

utilities, garage workshops and dealers, and many others.

The estimate of current worldwide jobs created directly by fuel cell industries accounts for

more than 13,000 while the supply chain employment is estimated to more than 25,000

positions (Barrau, 2012). The prediction on the adoption of FC&H2, according to the Industry

Review 2010, claims an overall 700,000 job positions in manufacturing by 2019 and, if

installation and maintenance are included, this figure could reach more than one million jobs.

The estimate provided includes only direct jobs and can be mainly attributed to stationary fuel

cells, which alone are expected to give rise to 500,000 jobs in the next decade (Barrau, 2012).

The creation of jobs in manufacturing would be mainly based in Asia, while jobs in the

installation and maintenance are mainly located in North America and Europe. The

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Strategic Energy Technology Plan Study on Energy Education and Training in Europe estimated

around 60,000 jobs in 2020 and 190,000 in 2030 (Expert Working Group, 2014). More in detail,

around 40,000 technicians and workers are expected by 2020 and this figure may rise up to

130,000 by 2030 according to the same source. Differently, according to the final report of the

HyWays project, the potential impacts of the development of hydrogen energy in terms of jobs

in Europe could generate more than 800,000 jobs in Europe by 2020, or otherwise destroy 1.2

million jobs in Europe because of the inaction and massive imports of non-European

technology. The huge difference between the numbers presented is probably due to the

inclusion of jobs position in the whole FC&H2 chain, including indirect jobs.

To prioritize the FC&H2 applications to be addressed by the project and to define the contents,

it is necessary to look specifically at each of the previously analysed applications. The data

reported in Table 2 can give an indication of the impact of each application.

Table 2 – Workforce projections for 2020 per typology and FC&H2 application (Expert Working Group,

2014)

It can be noted that the application with the highest number of positions for workers and

technicians is fuel cell electric vehicles, with 12,500 and 6,250 jobs, respectively. Also in the

European Hydrogen Roadmap, it is affirmed that in Europe, the largest employment potential

is due to automotive industry, and to a lesser extent to the process and equipment industry

(HyWays, 2008). In HyProfessional Deliverable 8, a specific analysis of the number of people that

will need training in the FCEVs sector is provided. Starting from the number of people working

in the automotive field and the number of registered cars, a value of 0.04 workers per car is

obtained. Multiplying this value by the expected number of FCEVs as provided by HyWays

Roadmap, a total of 20,000 people, that need to be trained by 2020, is calculated and this figure

reaches the 160,000 people by 2030 (Barrau, 2012). For passenger cars, other estimations show

that the demand is around 400 technicians and workers per year and, by 2020, half of the

automotive vocational training students in Europe will need to have fuel cell knowledge, so

that automotive vocational training curricula have to be updated and adapted to the FC

technologies.

Stationary fuel cells also are expected to have a significant impact with a total of 10,000 job

positions, 5000 workers and 5000 technicians. In the report it is not clearly specified which

exact applications are meant by this definition but most probably it refers to combined heat

and power generation. For stationary applications, no information has been found for micro

CHP while for backup power, HyProfessionals Deliverable 8 indicates the need of vocational

training for installers and after-sales operations. The current situation sees manufacturers

training their installers internally because the product line is still in an evolutionary phase and

D 1.1


the certification requirements for the installation are specific for each country. Approximately 2

million installers worldwide are expected by 2017, with a rough estimation of 100 installers per

country (Barrau, 2012).

Hydrogen production is expected to have an impact similar to that of the introduction of fuel

cells for micro-CHP with 4,848 workers and 4,800 technicians expected to be employed. A

detailed estimate can also be found. Hydrogen is in fact one of the most promising candidate for

long term energy storage. In the Strategic Energy Technology Plan Study on Energy Education

and Training in Europe, a scaling approach is used for this estimate. Using the current number of

employees at Yara International, which claims a share of 20% of ammonia production (which

accounts for 50% of total hydrogen use), and the expected volume of hydrogen required for

energy storage, 80,000 workers are estimated to be employed by 2030. Concerning hydrogen

storage, since the hydrogen produced is currently directly used in ammonia production or oil

refineries, the workforce for storage is currently essentially absent. A conservative estimate

indicates 50,000 employees, out of which 50% being engineers and the remaining equally

distributed among researchers and technicians; thus 12,500 expected technicians (Expert

Working Group, 2014).

Hydrogen filling stations, forklift and fuel cells for power generation will account for 1,500,

834 and 416 jobs each, equally divided between workers and technicians. Other estimates are

provided in Deliverable 8 of the HyProfessionals project where worldwide jobs in forklift

applications are rated to 2,000 until 2020, most of them in the field of Installation and

Infrastructure, while for FCEVs 20,000 jobs are expected in Europe alone for the same year

(Barrau, 2012). This last figure is slightly lower than that assumed in the Strategic Energy

Technology Plan Study on Energy Education and Training in Europe but it has to be noted that it

is not specified if only passenger cars or also other vehicles, like buses, are included in the

estimates. Concerning forklift and material handling vehicles, the current market is 350,000

units per year sold in Europe. According to relevant OEMs, the development potential of FC

powered lift trucks for Europe alone is estimated to be around 10,000 units by 2015. According

to the FY 2011 Progress Report of the DOE, the potential in the USA lies at around 2,000 people

in 2020, and as a rule of thumb, an estimation for Europe should range between 1,000 and 2,000

people, which is consistent with the values presented in Table 2. The report by the Department

of Energy also indicates the typology of jobs. Figure 4 below indicates the number of employees

per year per sector. It can be observed that the manufacturing sector is the less demanding, as

opposed to installation.

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Figure 4 – Jobs potential for fuel cells forklifts per job typology (DOE, 2011).

In the Strategic Energy Technology Plan Study on Energy Education and Training in Europe, also

projections for 2030 are presented. The values are illustrated in Table 3.

Table 3 - Workforce projections for 2030 per typology and FC&H2 application (Expert Working Group,

2014)

It can be seen that a total of 88,850 workers and 50,737 technicians are expected to be

employed in the FC&H2 sector. The same trend illustrated for 2020 can be noticed, with FCEVs

accounting for the highest number of positions, followed by hydrogen production and stationary

fuel cells. Besides these estimates, in the same report, also the number of current technicians

and workers employed in the FC&H2 sector is presented. The current situation sees again

FCEVs as the most important sector, followed by hydrogen production and filling stations.

Summing up the positions for the various applications, a total number of 964 workers and 1464

technicians is given in the report (Expert Working Group, 2014).

Looking specifically at the different European countries, the number of employees in Germany,

currently equal to 1,500 persons, is expected to reach 6,000 persons by 2020 (VDMA, 2014). In

2012 this same figure was estimated to 5000 employees, thus indicating an increasing impact of

FC&H2 technologies on the German market. It has to be noted that the figure is related only to

the industry sector and, unfortunately, it is not specified how many out of the 6,000 employees

D 1.1


will be technicians or workers. However, it is possible to estimate these figures considering the

numbers reported in Table 2. Out of the 6,000 employees roughly 2400 workers and 1800

technicians can be expected. It is important to notice that transport applications are not

included in these estimates so for this area additional strong turnover and employee numbers

should be estimated.

The expected number of employees in Spain in the FC&H2 sector according to the report

“Expectativas de creacion de empleo en hidrogeno y pilas de combustible en Espana”, in an

optimistic scenario, by 2030, 180,000 new jobs are estimated while, according to a less

optimistic scenario, this figure could be equal to 125,000 job positions (Plataforma Tecnoloica

Espanola del Hidrogeno y de las Pilas de Combustible, 2013). Also in this case, the typology of

the job positions created is not specified and, most probably, the whole FC&H2 chain as well as

indirect jobs are considered. In the same study, also the number of vocational students in the

automotive sector is estimated. The same report concludes that for the automobile sector the

total amount of new jobs related to hydrogen will be 101,999. Another estimates, related to the

number of expected trainees, taking into account the number of centres for vocational training

in Spain, the number of students per year and scaling according to the European population, a

number of 44,236 students per year is obtained (Barrau, 2012). Similar numbers are expected

in Portugal, although scenarios on the creation of jobs are highly speculative since the

hydrogen sector is relatively small and there is no systematization of the industry to a level to

create a stream of stable jobs. No specific information was found for Italy. However, the

mobility plan indicates the interest of the government for FC based transportation thus

indicating that a certain number of people would require specific training in the field.

For the FCEVs sector, useful information can be found for United Kingdom in the report of the

first phase of UK H2 Mobility. In the report, hydrogen is indicated as principal cause for the

creation of job opportunities in vehicle manufacturing, new components development, fuel

production, distribution, supply and in general across the whole chain. More than 40 companies

are manufacturing vehicles in the United Kingdom, employing 131,000 persons in vehicle part

manufacturing and further 150,000 employees in the supply chain (UK H2 Mobility, 2013). An

estimate of the number of employees in the area of garages can be made using values related to

Belgium. Belgium has 3,000 employers in the repair and maintenance of vehicles with roughly

10,219 workers. It yields an average of 3 people per garage. Of these, at least two must have a

Hydrogen certification (the foreman and one worker), which theoretically means 6,000 job

positions. However, this figure has to be corrected according to the percentage of expected

FCEVs in the various years. This number does not include the training of emergency services

(Fire - 6000 Firefighters Wallonia - and ambulance, police, etc.), insurance, and maintenance

workers of refueling hydrogen stations. For Netherlands, it was not possible to find reports

with figures on the job positions expected to be created by FC&H2 entering the market. An

estimate performed by Kiwa based on the number of vehicles per person and the expected

penetration of FCEV, indicates that roughly 20 employees in refueling station are expected by

2020 and this number reaches 129 by 2030. However, the estimate is based on high penetration

of FCEV and if low penetration is considered, these values decrease to 4 and 40 employees by

2020 and 2030, respectively. Additional information can be obtained from a survey conducted

by Kiwa within companies which participate in the technician trainings they offer, indicated that

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roughly 30% of the companies showing interest for a FC&H2 technician training belong to the

installer category.

Summary

A clear trend is visible that the demand for fuel cell technicians is increasing (for multiple types

of fuel cells and applications) and this points towards the need for training opportunities.

Several tens of thousands of technicians might have to be trained in the coming years. The

industry recognizes this and a large fraction indicated that “short professional training” is the

most suitable form of training that is required to be developed . At least according to one

study, it also appears that the creation of jobs in manufacturing is expected to be mainly based

in Asia, and jobs in the installation and maintenance are to be mainly located in North America

and Europe. All these points towards the attractiveness of a potential short professional

technician training program in Europe covering different types of fuel cells and applications and

targeted mainly at installation and commissioning technicians.

3.3. Existing training in FC&H2

There are some initiatives, projects and courses related to FC&H2 technologies but skills

shortages are a common feature of the technology landscape due to the novelty of the

technology. At the present time, training is mostly encountered at academic level, which is a

result of the fact that FC&H2 technologies are still not fully in the market. The HyProfessionals

project detected that training programs on FC&H2 technologies are integrated in chemical

technology studies and renewable technology studies. Also, the majority of these studies belong

to higher education levels (university level): Postgraduate, Master, subject and chapters

included in longer courses, whereas there are very few and very short courses on FC&H2

technologies at vocational training level. With very few exceptions, no systematic approach has

been developed to teach or train a workforce of workers and technicians on the hydrogen and

fuel cells breakthrough technologies. The lack of courses for technicians is observed by

industrial companies which claim that it is difficult to find qualified workers. Industrial

companies do not normally exploit cooperation with research or educational centres. Since

FC&H2 are relatively new technologies and the majority of the knowledge is owned by

universities and research institutes, relationships between the educational organizations and

industry should be improved. Regarding the level and the length of the training, it is important

to bring FC&H2 training to the operational level for technicians and workers.

Results from the HyProfessional project also indicated some specific needs of industries. These

findings were obtained through a web based survey. The questionnaire was divided into two

parts, one for companies, and one for universities/education centres. Results showed that at

industrial level, there is a great need for training on the topic of FC&H2, mainly in a short

course format. The technical and safety issues are very important both for technicians and

engineers.

HyProfessionals also compiled teaching and training materials for FC&H2 developed in different

European countries. They are singular at the moment, which means that they are currently used

in pilot actions, study courses and other individual seminars and, as mentioned before, they are

mostly at university level. They are not standardized by a European accreditation body and they

D 1.1


are predominantly implemented in professional or academic curricula. Due to the different

educational systems in the European countries the accreditations of the hydrogen teaching and

training materials are not homogeneous.

The different penetration of FC&H2 application in the European countries results in a different

offer of training in this field, not only in terms of number, but also the kind of FC&H2 related

courses. In Spain there are not too many specific courses. Some of them are free or almost free

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which could give the student a light idea about hydrogen

and fuel cells, but not a specialization in the field. More information on these course can be

found in Table 4.

Company Course Type Cost (€) Duration

SEAS Estudios Abiertos Hydrogen process and fuel

cells Online 1500 6 months

Asociacion Espanola del Hidrogeno

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Online 390 1.5

months Asociacion Espanola del Hidrogeno

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells On-Site class 1000 1.5

months

Centro de Estudios de Energias Renovables (CEER)

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Online 55 120 hours

Aprendum Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Online 49 120 hours

Universidad de Alcala de Henares

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells On-Site class / /

Express Technical course on

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Online 55 140 hours

Table 4 - Summary of H2&FC course available in Spain

For what concerns Belgium, more specifically Wallonia, almost no training is related to

Hydrogen in the automotive sector. To the knowledge of the Belgian partner, the only

existing trainings in Wallonia are one training module provided at the University of

Liege (ULg) which is an introduction on fuel cells (Provided by the Chair of terrestrial

vehicles and the electro-chemistry department) and one half-day training session at the

Automotive Campus of Spa-Francorchamps which is an informative session on the

technology enhanced by didactical material and the use of a test bench.

In Netherlands, the company Air products offers the KnowH2ow®-safety training for

its customers and HAN University of Applied Science (Arnhem) has a post-HBO course

called “Applied Sustainable Energy” where also Hydrogen is covered. Also in Germany

companies have their own courses, as an example Elcore and SFC, or most of the times

FC&H2 courses are offered at higher level, i.e. university level. However, also training

centers have started to offer courses related to hydrogen and Fuel Cells. The education

and training center WBZU has started to offer three courses on FC&H2. The centre

offers a four days introductory course on the technology with theoretical and practical

sessions. The theoretical part covers the basic principles of Fuel Cells, their applications

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and their advantages. In the practical session, test benches and demonstration units are

used. The target of this course is represented by engineers and scientists employed in

the fuel cell industry, employees of companies entering in the fuel cell market, science

and engineering graduate students and faculty members with different expertise. The

second course, offered in the form of seminar, focuses on micro and mini CHP systems

and focuses on installation, maintenance and operation. The seminar covers the basics,

the legal framework, planning and economy of the technology and is complemented by

practical exercises on installation, maintenance and operation. The seminar targets

craftsmen, educational institutions, planners, architects, engineers and housing

associations. The last course is a seminar covering the electrochemical and

thermodynamic fundamentals of fuel cells, an overview of the state of the art and fields

of applications and the economic potential of these technologies. The target audience of

the seminar is represented by experts and managers from the automotive industry,

educational institutions, teachers and lecturers, authorities, municipalities and

organizations. The cost of these three courses is 1290, 430 and 430 euros, respectively.

In United Kingdom, two UK universities and one German institute currently offer occasional

training modules (Error! Reference source not found.5) broadly directed at engineers, planners,

department managers, manufacturers, system integrators, inspection and safety bodies. These

modules cover the basic principles of hydrogen technology, including topics such as physical

properties, production, processing, conditioning, cleaning, compression, storage and transport. In

addition, various applications are addressed, such as fuel cells (PEFC and SOFC), heating

technologies, hybrid systems and smart grids. Each module is attended by approximately 10 - 30

persons.

Training institution Country Duration Course title

University of Ulster UK 5 days International short course of advanced

research workshop in hydrogen safety

University of Ulster UK 4 days

11th Intern. Short course and advanced

research workshop in the series "Progress

in Hydrogen Safety": Hydrogen

Technologies and Infrastructure May 2011

Jordanstown, Belfast

University of Birmingham /

Forschungszentrum Jülich

(2010 and 2013-)

UK/DE 5 days European Summer School on SOFCs

Table 5 - Summary of courses available in UK/DE

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The content of these undergraduate courses involves acquiring general understanding of fuel cells at

both theoretical and practical levels. At the end of the course, the student can decide what fuel cell

systems are suitable for a given application. This course aims to enhance deeper knowledge, wider

vision and improved understanding of the mechanisms as well as a better insight into theories,

analysis and design of fuel cell and integrated energy systems. Also, the Pure Energy Centre in

Scotland offers two training courses of 1 – 5 days duration, one on fuel cell technologies and the

other on hydrogen technologies. Both training courses are non-university courses. Besides these

initiatives, there are 3 postgraduate course modules offered in the UK addressing FC&H2 aspects

(mostly parts of educational programmes on energy) and 6 fully dedicated educational programmes,

as shown in Error! Reference source not found.6 and Error! Reference source not found.7,

respectively

Postgraduate module University ECTS

Renewable energy: H2& FC technology University of Newcastle 5

Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and their Applications University of Birmingham

Material for the hydrogen economy Heriot-Watt University 5

Table 6 - Summary of H2&FC postgraduate course modules available in UK

Name University ECTS

Post-graduate Cert in Hydrogen Safety Engineering

University of Ulster

60

Post-graduate Dip in Hydrogen Safety Engineering 120

Post-graduate in Hydrogen Safety Engineering 120

MSc in Hydrogen Safety Engineering 180

MRes in Hydrogen, FC and their applications University of Birmingham 60

PhD with integrated Study in Hydrogen, FC and their applications University of Birmingham 240

Table 7 - Summary of educational programmes available in UK/DE

Summary

From the review presented it is clear that there is a lack of offer of specific Hydrogen

and Fuel Cell courses for technicians. The majority of the courses currently available

target university level students. The expected rise in employment highlights the need

for a well trained work force across Europe, which can cover the new jobs created and

therefore, foster FC&H2 technology. The success of a technology is strongly dependent

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on the level of knowledge of the technicians and workers, as they are the ones who will

deal with production, installation, operation and maintenance. The creation of a FC&H2

training targeting technicians is therefore a critical step towards the widespread

acceptance and implementation of these technologies in the near future.

4. KnowHy course content Based on the information collected with the analysis, the local experience of the partners and

the results of the first survey performed in task 1.2, it was decided that the target group of the

course are technicians working on installation, operation and maintenance of Hydrogen and

Fuel Cells systems. Technicians and workers are needed also in the manufacturing process.

However, excluding the singular case of Germany, the creation of jobs in manufacturing would

be mainly based in Asia, while jobs in the installation, operation and maintenance will be

mainly located in North America and Europe (Barrau, 2012). This was also confirmed in the

survey performed within task 1.2. Also, from an analysis performed by EP within the Ene.field

project emerged that regarding CHP, manufacturers and utilities highlighted the need for a

proper technical training regarding installation and maintenance of the systems. In-house

training might cover the present needs but it is not sufficient in case of full market penetration

of this technology.

The definition of technicians should be examined in more depth. With the collaboration of all

partners involved in the development of contents and thanks to the experience of some partners

as Campus and Kiwa, it was agreed that the target group is represented by middle level

technicians with about 5-6 years of theoretical and practical education in a technical secondary

school (intermediate vocational education). Moreover, they should have about 3 years of

working experience. During their technical education and/or work experience they have gained

at least basic knowledge of electricity and chemistry.

An additional help in better defining the target group, thus in developing suitable teaching

material, can be taken from the explanation of the different figures of technicians working in an

automobile garage, as provided by Campus. There are three technician levels:

1. Frist level:

Garage Level: “Mécanicien d’entretien” (Maintenance operator)

School level: “Secondaires Techniques professionnelles” equivalent to MBO 1 and 2

in the Netherlands

Skills: these people are able to execute some technical tasks they have learned at

school and for which they have been trained in a workshop. They often do not know

anything about the scientific principles.

2. Second level:

Garage Level: “Mécanicien polyvalent” (Polyvalent mechanics)

School level: “Secondaires Techniques de qualification” equivalent to MBO 3 in the

Netherlands

Skills: These people are able to understand basics of scientific principles and are also

able to execute technical tasks. Their level of autonomy is high.

3. Third level:

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Garage Level: “Technicien en Maintenance et Diagnostic Automobile” (Maintenance

and diagnostic technicians)

School level: “Secondaires Techniques de transition” equivalent to MBO 4 in the

Netherlands

Skills: These people are prepared for jobs with higher responsibility. It also opens

the gates to Higher education.

The choice of targeting first level technicians is further supported by the fact that most of the

workers in a garage are from this level and few are from the second level, the ratio being around

80/20. Concerning the technicians from the third level, there is generally only one for a network

of garages.

The courses content is deigned having in mind this definition of technicians. However, to avoid

the risk that FC&H2 professionals, not having an easy and professional exposure to FC&H2

technology, can ignore or even reject the technologies, the course is suitable also for other

workers.

For what concerns the FC&H2 applications subject of the courses, although some of the data

reported in the analysis is more qualitative than quantitative, it provides a very useful

indication of which technologies are entering the market and their sizes. Resulting from the

information provided, the courses will cover six of the following seven applications:

1. Transport applications (automotive and material handling vehicles)

2. Backup power and auxiliary power units

3. Hydrogen production and handling (purification, storage, distribution)

4. Combined Heat and Power (PEMFC and SOFC systems)

5. Micro fuel cells systems

The data presented in section 3.2 give an indication of the number of job positions that will be

created and which figures will be more required. This has been verified with the help of the

questionnaire developed in Task 1.2. Moreover, specific questions have been designed to obtain

additional information on the exact typology of worker and technician to be trained and the

stakeholders training needs. According to the results of the survey, safety aspects, including risk

of explosion, handling of chemicals and electric power safety, are considered as important. It

came out that also Regulations, Codes and Standard is an interesting argument, especially for

the companies involved in the installation phase. Balance of plant components are also relevant

since they are also typically part of the maintenance operations. Based on the information

collected, it was possible to define the content of the courses, as presented in Table 5.

Courses

Hydrogen Fuel Cells for Transport Applications

Fuel Cell Based Generators

Combined Heat and Power Generation

Hydrogen Production and Handling

Micro Fuel Cells

Co

re

mo

du

le

Introduction to Fuel Cells and Hydrogen





Hydrogen Safety Hydrogen Safety Hydrogen Safety Hydrogen Safety Hydrogen Safety

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Introduction to Tools, Rules of Thumb and Applications





Installation, Maintenance and Troubleshooting





Sp

eci

ali

sati

on

mo

du

les

Introduction to the Transport Sector

Introduction to Fuel Cell Based Generators

Introduction to Combined Heat and Power sector

Processes for Hydrogen Production

Introduction to Micro Fuel Cells

Basics of Fuel Cells for Vehicles

Basics of Fuel Cell Based Generators

Basics of Fuel Cells for CHP

Purification Micro Fuel Cells Components

High and Low Pressure Component

Balance of Plant and Electric System Components

Balance of Plant Components

Storage and Transport

Micro Fuel Cells Processes and System Design

High Voltage Component

Safety, Codes and Regulations

Electrical Components

Handling Safety and Maintenance

Architecture of a Fuel Cell Vehicle

Maintenance Safety Aspects Regulations, Codes and Standards

Maintenance of a Fuel Cell Vehicle

Maintenance

Table 5 – List of courses and their contents

Based on the courses contents, it was decided to group overlapping content to form a core

module called Fuel Cells and Hydrogen basics. KnowHy training offer consists therefore in five

courses, each composed of a core module and one out of five specialisation modules.

Previous European project aiming at improving education in FC&H2 technologies mainly

focused on higher education level, i.e. university level. Therefore, it was necessary to develop

large part of the course contents from scratch or to significantly re-adapt the contents to the

target selected. An exception is represented by the module “Combined Heat and Power

Generation”. Material developed within the Callux project has been used by TUM and TUD for

developing the module contents. It has to be said that even if it was not possible to use directly

material developed in other projects, partners made use of the significant experience gained

while participating in these European projects. As an example, the participation of Envipark in

DEMO projects as Flumaback, Fitup and Enefield was extremely useful while developing the

content since, for instance, the main actions of EP in Flumaback was to test crucial components

located in a backup system.

Partners made use also of their connections with industries to develop the course content. As an

example, Envipark strictly cooperated with the technicians of the company Electro Power

System (EPS). This help in both developing the content of the module “” and in tuning the

format. The module content have been developed also by TUM, that used some material

provided by SFC energy. Another example can be found in the collaboration between Campus

and automotive companies. To develop the content of the module “Hydrogen Fuel Cells for

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Transport Applications” Campus contacted Toyota which provided useful material and offered

for a revision of the content developed. This same last task will be also performed by Hyundai.

Also for the development of the core module, industries have been involved. The content

developed, in particular the serious game, has been deigned based on the system provided by

the company Heliocentris. The same system is used during the practical session of the module.

A range of books, e-books and journal articles have been used in the development of module

contents. A comprehensive reference list is given on the e-learning platform for each unit

developed by all partners.

4. Conclusions

The objective of work performed in WP1 task 1.1 consisted of 1) Identification of the target

groups of the education initiative and 2) define the topics to be included in every course

according to the market needs and harmonize the contents of the modules to be included in

each course.

To reach this objective, a market analysis was carried out based on existing reports and

partners specific knowledge. The analysis focused in describing the FC&H2 market in terms of

applications, size of the market and impact on the labor force. Currently existing courses have

been searched to determine gaps and to verify the possibility of existing material.

Around 60,000 jobs in 2020 and 190,000 in 2030 related to FC&H2 are expected. More

specifically, these contain around 40,000 technicians and workers by 2020 and up to 130,000

by 2030 (Expert Working Group, 2014). Technicians and workers are needed in manufacturing

products, installation, monitor operation and maintenance services of FC&H2 technologies.

However, since the hydrogen and fuel cell market is relatively new, the production line is still in

an evolutionary phase and usually companies prefer in-house training for their technicians.

Moreover, it is possible that the manufacturing process will take place in Asian countries. These

employees should be trained in FC&H2 applications and currently there is a lack of courses at

technician and worker level. Even if the figures presented in the various reports do not fully

match, it is clear that the goal of training of a minimum number of 1,000 people can be achieved

and there is an impressive possibility to carry on the project after the end of the three years, as

confirmed also from the survey performed in task 1.2.

Based on this analysis and on the results of the initial survey of task 1.2, the target of the course,

the content have been defined as given in table 8 in this report. The topics identified are the

following., 1) Hydrogen Fuel Cells for Transport Applications, 2) Fuel Cell Based Generators, 3)

Combined Heat and Power Generation, 4) Hydrogen Production and Handling and 5) Micro Fuel

Cells. Furthermore, training on each module is divided into a common core program and

different specialization modules. The topics to be covered in the core module include,

introduction, safety aspects, tools, installation, commissioning and maintenance. While the

contents in the specialization modules vary to some extent, they all have a common structure.

The main topics covered in these specialization modules are, introduction, basics, components

safety and maintenance. It is anticipated that a training program based on such a structure can

D 1.1


help to create a well trained work force that can to fasten the introduction of hydrogen and

fuel cell based systems in European and world markets.

D 1.1


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barrau, C. (2012). HyProfessionals Deliverable no. 8 - Gap Analysis. doi:10.4135/9781452229669.n1407

Carter, D. (2013). Analyst View: Selling Fuel Cells Globally – Materials Handling Equipment. Fuel Cell Today, (January).

DOE. (2011). FY Annual Progress Report Hydrogen and Fuel Cels Program

E4tech. (2014). The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2014.

Expert Working Group. (2014). Strategic Energy Technology Plan Study on Energy Education and Training in Europe. doi:10.2790/30422

FCH JU. (2011). Fuel Cell and Hydrogen technologies in Europe (p. 48).

FCH JU. (2012). Urban buses : alternative powertrains for Europe.

Fuel Cell Today. (2013). The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2013 (p. 50).

Graizzaro, A. (2012). HyProfessionals Deliverable no. 6 - Target groups identification.

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Interagency Working Group. (2011). Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Interagency Action Plan.

HyWays. (2008). HyWays - Member States’ Report (pp. 1–57).

ICCT. (2013). European Vehicle Market Statistics Pocketbook 2013.

IEA. (2014). International Energy Agency ( IEA ) Advanced Fuel Cells Implementing Agreement (p. 97).

McKinsey & Company. (2012). A portfolio of power-trains for Europe : a fact-based analysis.

Plataforma Tecnologica Espanola del Hidrogeno y de las Pilas de Combustible. (2011). Analisis del mapa de ruta del hidrogeno en Espana.

Plataforma Tecnoloica Espanola del Hidrogeno y de las Pilas de Combustible. (2013). Expectativas de creacion de empleo en hidrogeno y pilas de combustible en Espana.

The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee. (2013). Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Development and Commercialization Activity (pp. 1–11).

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VDMA. (2014). Innovative Brennstoffzellen-Technologien aus Deutschland auf dem Sprung zur Serie.

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