Korea Proposes Updates to KGS Safety Standards for Hydrogen Equipment
30. July 2026South Korea has proposed revisions to several KGS safety standards covering hydrogen equipment, with the aim of improving regulatory consistency, strengthening safety requirements where necessary, and reducing unnecessary inspection burdens for lower-risk systems. The proposed amendments apply to hydrogen production equipment, water electrolysis systems, stationary fuel cells, and multiple categories of mobile fuel cells used in industrial and transport applications.
The Gas Technology Standards Committee is currently collecting public comments on nine draft revisions, including KGS AH171, AH271, AH371, and AH372 through AH377. The updates are intended to improve the practical application of inspection requirements while aligning the standards more closely with the actual safety risks associated with different types of equipment. Hydrogen equipment usually requires KGS certification in order to be approved for import and sale in Korea.
Inspection Scope Refined and New Safety Requirements Introduced
One of the most significant proposed changes affects hydrogen reforming equipment (AH171) and water electrolysis equipment (AH271). Utility piping and equipment carrying cooling water, air, nitrogen, or similar media would generally be excluded from mandatory inspection, except where they are installed within the same enclosure as regulated equipment. According to the committee, these utility systems present comparatively low safety risks and automatic shutdown functions can maintain safe operation even if utility supplies are interrupted. The revision is expected to allow inspections to focus more effectively on equipment with higher safety significance.
The draft revisions also clarify terminology related to burner operation by distinguishing between “restart” and “re-ignition.” Since gas supply remains isolated during the pre-purge process, the committee concluded that the operating sequence should be classified as a restart rather than a re-ignition, reducing the potential for inconsistent interpretation during inspections.
For stationary fuel cells (AH371), the proposal establishes dedicated safety requirements for catalytic burners for the first time. New provisions include mandatory safety shutdown functions if catalyst activation fails, catalyst temperature monitoring, control of fuel and air supply, and maximum standby time requirements. In addition, exhaust system inspection criteria would transition from a bend-count approach to a maximum equivalent length method, providing clearer compliance requirements.
Mobile Fuel Cell Standards Harmonized Across Applications
The revisions also cover mobile fuel cells used in forklifts, drones, construction machinery, trams, aircraft, and ships. Oxygen supply piping serving fuel cell stacks and carrying low-pressure, non-hazardous fluids would no longer be subject to pressure resistance and leak testing because of the limited fire and explosion risk. Furthermore, wind resistance testing would be removed for direct methanol fuel cells and direct hydrogen fuel cells, reflecting their structural design without combustion burners.
To improve consistency across the various mobile fuel cell standards, the committee has also revised provisions covering terminology, inspection equipment, electrical wiring, grounding, emergency shutdown controls, and leak detection systems. A formal definition of the lockout concept has been introduced, while emergency shutdown procedures and inspection criteria have been clarified to reduce differences in interpretation between manufacturers and inspection authorities.
The proposed amendments are expected to enhance consistency across Korea’s hydrogen equipment regulatory framework while easing unnecessary compliance obligations for lower-risk equipment. At the same time, the strengthened and clarified requirements are intended to support safer product development, more efficient certification processes, and continued growth of the country’s hydrogen technology sector. Further regulatory information may become available through official KGS publications and related certification resources.
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