Latest news from Kiwa

Autumn 2022 Kiwa has started two new projects in Portugal for two Portuguese gas district system operators: H2REN for REN Portgás and Retrofit for Floene. In commission of these two operators, Kiwa will assess the suitability of their gas distribution networks for hydrogen.

Recently Kiwa has been announced as a finalist for the Hydrogen Awards of 2023, where businesses are highlighted for their contribution to the hydrogen industry. The commissioning of our new hydrogen production plant has played a major role in the nomination.

The IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components (IECEE) recently appointed Kiwa to carry out assessments and certifications in the context of the series of standards IEC 62443. Kiwa was already partially accredited, but this accreditation has now been expanded to include even more parts of the standard. To qualify for this allocation, Kiwa successfully completed the IECEE Certification Body Testing Laboratory (CBTL) and National Certification Body (NCB) audits.

The new version of ISO 27001 was published on 25 October 2022. A transition period of three years applies and certified organizations must therefore have switched to ISO 27001:2022 on  November 1st 2025. Below we have listed the most important information about the transition process.

In the coming year, Kiwa will sponsor Forze Hydrogen Racing, the student team that specializes in racing on hydrogen. Kiwa not only supports Forze financially, but also contributes in the form of advice and validation of hydrogen systems. Forze Hydrogen Racing has been developing hydrogen racing cars since 2007 and wants to promote hydrogen as the fuel of the future in the automotive sector.

EuropeActive, the European trade association for fitness clubs, officially started with FITcert level 3 in October. This independent European quality label enables fitness clubs to demonstrate that they meet high standards when it comes to service, hygiene and safety. As of now, clubs will receive the NCS 17229-compliant certificate upon passing FITcert level 3. Kiwa is one of the certifying institutions for FITcert.

Recently, the ISO 27001 standard for information security received an update. The revised standard was published on 25 October 2022. The updated standard has been aligned with ISO 27002:2022 published in February this year and includes some technical corrections. ISO 27001:2022 is subject to a three-year transition period. This means that certified organisations must have switched to ISO 27001:2022 by autumn 2025.

Kiwa has recently opened a new hydrogen production plant in Cheltenham. The plant and technology demonstration site is linked to Kiwa’s new test labs by the UK’s first low pressure hydrogen distribution pipeline, operated under the Gas Act 1986. The ability to connect to a continuous flow of odourised hydrogen will be invaluable to manufacturers seeking to understand the performance and longevity of their hydrogen appliances.

HyDelta, the hydrogen research platform in which Kiwa participates with several other hydrogen pioneers, presented an interim report of the program to Minister Jetten for Climate and Energy on Thursday 6 October 2022 during the Wind Meets Gas symposium in Groningen. The report describes the results of 37 studies into the large-scale application of hydrogen in the transport sector and the distribution of hydrogen gas in existing infrastructure.

Flammable refrigerants such as A2L and A3 are increasingly being used for heat exchange in heat pumps. This means that safety aspects of heat pumps are becoming more and more important and complex. That is why the latest version of the IEC 60335-2-40, concerning the safety of electrical appliances for household and similar purposes, deals with, among others, the vibration aspects of heat pumps.

On February 15, 2022, the new version of the ISO 27002 standard was published. The ISO 27002 is an extension of the ISO 27001 standard for information security and specifies the requirements of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). The extension provides best practices for security controls and measures that you can implement to improve your security. Although ISO 27002 is not a certifiable standard, this revision does have consequences for organizations that are or want to become ISO 27001 certified. That is why we share the most important changes with you.

One of the ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to capture and store or use released CO₂. To do this efficiently and safely, additional knowledge is needed about the properties of materials subjected to carbon dioxide. Kiwa has therefore invested in new facilities to investigate and test with high pressure CO₂.

In 2018, the Dutch government decided to strive for a fossil-free energy supply by 2050 at the latest. Following that purpose and because of all the problems surrounding gas extraction in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands was supposed to get rid of gas as quickly as possible. What is the current state of that electrification decision? Has the role of gas in the energy mix completely been played out? Kiwa conducted research and published the results in the report “How the Dutch all-electric ambition was caught up by reality”.

Fertilizer producer ICL (Everris International B.V.), supplier of plant nutrition and fertilization solutions for the agriculture, fruit and vegetable sector, the ornamental plant sector and golf and sports fields, was issued the first FPR certificate by Kiwa Verin on 12 April. Kiwa VERIN recently obtained full accreditation for the Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR) (EU) 2019/1009, the CE marking for fertilizing products, which will come into effect on 16 July.

Hydrogen will play an important role in the energy transition. In particular green hydrogen, produced using sustainably generated electricity, can become a sustainable replacement for natural gas in industry, mobility and the built environment. While concrete applications of hydrogen are already fully operational, there is still much to be discovered about the properties of the gas.

Vinçotte, Belgium’s largest inspection, audit and certification company, is now officially part of the Kiwa Group. The signatures for this agreement have been placed on May 20, 2022.