The successful operation of MW-scale hydrogen facilities requires much more than electrolysers and power infrastructure. Safe, compliant and reliable hydrogen production depends on a comprehensive ecosystem of monitoring, control and data management systems that connect plant operation, certification requirements and performance assessment.

Using the Hydrogen Lab Bremerhaven as a practical example, this presentation provides insights into the systems and data architecture required to operate a MW-scale hydrogen facility. It will highlight the challenges associated with RFNBO-compliant hydrogen production, including renewable energy sourcing, forecast monitoring, plant-wide operational control and the collection of auditable data required for certification processes.

Beyond regulatory compliance, this lab was also designed to fulfill research and testing purposes. These kinds of environments impose additional requirements on measurement and data acquisition systems. Additional instrumentation is needed to evaluate electrolyser performance, support customer-specific testing campaigns and assess topics such as grid compliance and power quality. These activities generate large volumes of operational and measurement data that must be captured, stored and made accessible while ensuring data integrity, cybersecurity and traceability.

The presentation will provide an overview of how these requirements were met by implementation of integrated software tools at the HLB to enable both efficient plant operation and high-quality research outcomes. Finally, an outlook will be given on how operational data can be leveraged for techno-economic analyses and the development of digital models supporting future hydrogen projects.