Safety and Multi Hazard Identification for resilient European Hydrogen Infrastructure and Logistics Development

SHIELD - Safety and Multi Hazard Identification for resilient European Hydrogen Infrastructure and Logistics DevelopmentThe hydrogen network is crucial for the European society and any failure or damage could potentially have an enormous negative impact. Due to the rapidly evolving threat and geopolitical landscape, especially with incidents like the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas infrastructure, organizations overseeing critical infrastructure face significant challenges. To face manmade and natural hazards aggravated by climate change, it is crucial to implement resilience-enhancing measures. Hydrogen can be integrated into the natural gas network to advance a low-carbon economy, but first certain technical and regulatory challenges need to be addressed. Blended gas networks must ensure safe and efficient operation while meeting energy demand requirements. The establishment of a universal limit for hydrogen within the European gas infrastructure is challenging due to uncertainties regarding material integrity. SHIELD proposal will enhance the management of hydrogen injection in blended gas networks by expanding our understanding of hydrogen projects along with their associated risks. SHIELD proposes innovative risk assessment methods and solutions to enhance security and reduce risks of natural hazards such as floods, landslides, wildfires, and earthquakes, and cyber-attacks on pipelines transporting hydrogen. This will be accomplished by mapping hydrogen facilities across Europe, identifying their vulnerability, developing an automated threat detection approach to promptly indicate incidents to both critical infrastructure owners and member states authorities, identify strategies for effectively managing a blended gas network ensuring the safe integration of hydrogen into natural gas infrastructure.