With the nation’s goal of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030—including 280 GW from solar—effective energy storage solutions are essential for managing power generation and ensuring a stable energy supply.

BESS provides a range of benefits for integrating renewable energy, such as improving grid stability, enabling peak load management, enhancing the profitability of renewable energy investments, reducing renewable energy curtailment, supporting decentralised energy solutions, and providing fast-response operating reserves.

To support the development of quality infrastructure (QI) services for BESS, our team designed and co-facilitated a multi-stakeholder engagement initiative entitled “Improving Quality Infrastructure for Battery Energy Storage Systems”. This initiative aimed to identify the QI services required by the battery sector to ensure the sustainability, safety, and quality of BESS as well as to meet buyer expectations.

The process was carried out using the Calidena methodology, a participatory approach designed to strengthen QI in value chains through stakeholder collaboration. It involved interviews and meetings with QI institutions and sector organisations, along with background research and mapping of the BESS value chain to identify areas with the highest demand for QI services.

A two-day, in-person stakeholder workshop was conducted in India, where participants collaboratively assessed existing gaps and demands in QI services. The workshop also focussed on identifying priority areas for the development or expansion of QI services. In addition to strengthening specific QI services, the process also aimed to foster greater cooperation and coordination among national and international organisations.

The process culminated in the formulation of an action plan outlining subsequent activities and identifying organisations to be involved in the implementation phase. The implemented activities will support the improvement of laboratory testing facilities, address requirements for the End of Life management of BESS and close existing gaps in supporting standards and technical regulations in India.

The initiative was conducted on behalf of the German Metrology Institute, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Due to the global climate crisis, there is an urgency for all sectors of the global economy to be decarbonised – following a net-zero compatible pathway – by or around 2050. While most industries and applications can rely on electrification with renewable power, some hard-to-abate sectors need more than electrification alone, and require the use of hydrogen, or hydrogen derived commodities like ammonia, methanol or direct reduced iron (DRI) steel to achieve net-zero emissions. According to IRENA’s 1.5°C scenario, green and blue hydrogen production would need to increase to 125 million tonnes per year (Mtpa) by 2030 and 523 Mtpa by 2050. This brings both opportunities for development, as well as challenges for scaling and adapting the production, infrastructure and end-use value chains required. The existence and further development of a robust Quality Infrastructure – defined as a system comprised of organisations, policies, legal framework, and practices required to assure quality, safety and sustainability of products and services – for green hydrogen is a key pillar for enabling this transition.

Ferdinand Consultants supported IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, throughout its project focused at practical recommendations on the development of quality infrastructure services for the green hydrogen value chain. Niels Ferdinand is one of the key authors of the related publications. The project was implemented together with Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Germany’s national metrology institute – PTB) and with financial support from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Quality infrastructure provides instruments and services to reduce safety, financial, and reputational risks in the sector while supporting the achievement of the intended positive sustainability impacts of investments. IRENA’s report “A Quality Infrastructure Roadmap for green Hydrogen” includes an overview of the main considerations and good practices for the key elements that underpin the quality infrastructure ecosystem, namely standardisation, metrology, conformity assessment (testing, certification, inspection, verification, and validation), and accreditation, as well as technical regulations relevant for the hydrogen sector.

A key output of the project is a general roadmap on how countries can develop their quality infrastructure to effectively support the green hydrogen sector, with particular focus on the hydrogen production and distribution segments of the value chain. The five steps included in this roadmap approach are:

IRENA piloted the roadmap in a case study developed for Tunisia together with the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy. Ferdinand Consultants supported the pilot application, identifying Quality Infrastructure services offered and required, proposing an action plan for Tunisia and participating in the related stakeholder consultation. See contents of the case study here.

A three-level model is proposed which defines the required quality infrastructure services at different levels of development of the green hydrogen sector:

A checklist of services for each quality infrastructure pillar is provided, that can be used by policymakers and industry stakeholders to ensure that key services are in place from basic services to specialised requirements for green hydrogen. A database, comprising of a non-exhaustive list of available and upcoming quality infrastructure standards was also created.

The project developed comprehensive knowledge and defined a systemic approach to develop quality infrastructure for the emerging green hydrogen. The roadmap provides a structured method and practical tools for decision-makers and practitioners to apply when considering the vital role of quality infrastructure in supporting their energy transition efforts.

“Working with Niels was an absolute pleasure. He had such specialized knowledge which greatly informed the development of the outputs of the project. He is a very committed professional and a great team player – his contributions were invaluable! The supporting Ferdinand Consultants team (particularly Maria Llauradó) was extremely helpful in reviewing and finalising the roadmap as well as the database annex.”

Jaidev Dhavle
Associate Programme Officer – Innovation for the Energy Transition
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

In his role as tender agent, Niels Ferdinand supports KfW and its Project Executing Agencies in finding the right partners to implement projects in developing economies. His engagement includes developing tender documents, communicating  with tenderers and supporting the selection of consultancy firms that best fit project requirements.  

Niels´ primary focus work with KfW is on renewable energy projects in Asia. 

In 2017 and 2019 our team was assigned by PTB to conduct studies in Latin America and Sub Saharan Africa on the services required by the Quality Infrastructure (measurement, testing, standardization, certification and accreditation) to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The study in Africa was conducted in cooperation with Adelphi Consult. It defined the services required in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, health and agriculture. Funding options were identified, as well asopportunities for project implementation for selected Sub Saharan Countries.

The studies enabled PTB to focus its cooperation with Quality Infrastructure organizations in Latin America and Sub Saharan Africa on the new services required in times of climate change.

Links to the studies:
Quality Infrastructure and Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean
Quality Infrastructure for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change- Potentials, opportunities and chances in Sub-Saharan

Our team was commissioned by Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) to conduct a study on current financing practices and lessons learned in photovoltaic (PV) projects in India and Indonesia. We emphasized criteria that entailed the use of service of the Quality Infrastructure, including metrology, testing, standardization, certification, inspection and accreditation.

The study included desk research as well as interviews with relevant international and local stakeholders in India and Indonesia.

The results of the study and the recommendations developed by our team were presented in a stakeholder roundtable in India in March 2016 and used as input for the Host-Country Seminar “Promoting Renewable Energies in Asia – the Quality Challenge” held during the Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Frankfurt, Germany.