The acceleration of the development of the hydrogen sector in France, in response to the urgency of energy transition issues, is leading to the development and deployment of numerous industrial and technological projects. Mass production of hydrogen, development of uses, revitalization of territorial ecosystems, so many challenges that the many players in the sector have begun to take up.
ABeyond these major challenges, other aspects remain essential to the success and viability of the sector: the social acceptability and availability of hydrogen, which underpin responses in terms of safety and reliability of systems and infrastructures, are indeed essential!
As an illustration, the PCAET (Territorial Climate-Air-Energy Plan) workshops conducted in the territories collect valuable information from citizens. When consulted on the topic of hydrogen, the public often expresses a favorable opinion on this new energy vector, well perceived as a “renewable” energy. However, one of the frequent points of questioning concerns the dangerousness of this molecule, and the safety of new systems using hydrogen, particularly for mobility.
Specializing in the field of risk management, Airbus Protect, a subsidiary of Airbus, has put its skills at the service of the hydrogen sector in order to provide answers to these questions relating to the security and reliability of the systems that produce, store, transport and use this new energy vector.
As Pierre Sécher, in charge of developing Hydrogen activities at Airbus Protect, explains, “our company’s mission is twofold:
On the one hand, securing the hydrogen sector by offering consulting, study, expertise and training services in the areas of security, safety and cybersecurity, but also the environment. Taking into account the sustainability of activities no longer only includes the economic aspect; the impact of CO emissions2 or even climate risk must now be understood by company management.
The second part of this mission consists of taking these risks into account and optimizing the performance of hydrogen systems and projects, particularly with regard to operational availability. To do this, we provide system engineering services, reliability and maintenance studies in a “design to cost” approach (for example, how to obtain the best availability of a hydrogen production and distribution facility at a target or acceptable cost). We go beyond technical performance and take into account the human factor, i.e. people in their work environment, from the system design phase onwards.
Safety, Cybersecurity, Sustainability by design
With more than 1,400 employees, Airbus Protect, a new entity resulting from the merger of the activities of Apsys and Airbus Cybersecurity Services, is very widely present in the aeronautics sector, its original sector.
Airbus’ ambition to develop the hydrogen aircraft by 2035 as part of the ZEROe program mobilizes many resources of Airbus Protect, recognized as the group’s center of excellence on the subjects of “safety, cybersecurity, sustainability”. The technical challenges imposed by the use of liquefied hydrogen on future aircraft involve rethinking the entire design and rebuilding the safety demonstrations that will allow the authorities to issue the future airworthiness certificate. Carrying out risk and reliability analyses very early in the design is also one of the characteristicsues from the aeronautics industry that Airbus Protect wantsand put to good use for numerous industrial projects in the hydrogen sector.
One of Airbus Protect’s strengths is its ability to understand the challenges of risk management on future airport infrastructures which, by opening up to the hydrogen sector, will have to transform themselves in response to technological and regulatory constraints.
“Our membership in Airbus allows us to promote transfers of know-how between industrial sectors,” underlines Pierre Sécher.
Because Airbus Protect consultants have been exporting their expertise to other industrial sectors for over 35 years.
In the field of mobility, on the one hand, Airbus Protect operates in the rail, automotive and urban transport sectors. For example, the Airbus subsidiary provides its expertise on the cybersecurity issues of the future autonomous train or on industrial risk studies related to the adaptation of hydrogen bus depots.
Airbus Protect also operates in the industrial sector, using hydrogen to make its processes less emitting in greenhouse gases. Modifications to industrial units involve updating administrative files relating to ICPE regulations (Installations classified for the protection of the environment) and reviewing hazard studies, particularly Seveso, and environmental impact studies. Airbus Protect supports operators in the preparation of these files, from the creation to discussions with the administration.
Finally, Airbus Protect operates in the energy sector, with producers and transporters of hydrogen, in gaseous or liquefied form, whether they are large industrial complexes for mass production of hydrogen or smaller units for territorial distribution as close as possible to the end user. The issues of hydrogen availability must be understood at the level of the entire supply chain. A break in this chain linked to a breakdown, an accident or a malicious act can have significant economic consequences.
Sustained growth and resource requirements
Thus, around this risk control issue on which more and more attention is being paid, Airbus Protect has the skills to understand industrial systems and processes and propose technical and organizational risk control measures adapted to each sector of activity and its challenges. Mostly composed of engineers, the teams were strengthened by several hundred people in 2022 and continue their development. Recruitment is varied in the specialties of the sectors: aeronautics, transport, defense, chemical industry, energy, etc. Airbus Protect is looking for expert profiles in risk management, sustainable development or cybersecurity.
Airbus Protect is also focusing on the digitalization of its businesses with a department dedicated to digital transformation, largely composed of data scientists and artificial intelligence experts. “The objective is to meet customer expectations with tailor-made digital solutions, but also to transform the business by benefiting from the advantages of digital combined with the business expertise acquired over many years,” explains Pierre Sécher. In this area, Airbus Protect has notably developed an industrial risk management platform over the past two years that can be used by a network of industrial installations such as hydrogen production and distribution units.
Present in Toulouse, where the head office is located, but also in Élancourt and Issy-les-Moulineaux for the Paris region, in Marseille, but also in Bordeaux, Rennes, Nancy and Brest as well as in Germany, England and Spain, Airbus Protect provides its solutions as close as possible to the needs of its customers. In the field of hydrogen, whether innovative VSEs or large groups, its customers are located around major industrial basins and at the heart of all territorial ecosystems.
Indeed, all types of customers are concerned. Each link constituting this hydrogen chain must be secured to make hydrogen a trusted sector and its performance must be optimized to make it a sustainable sector.
