Latest news from Kiwa

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.

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.

Copper water pipes can leak due to a natural chemical process known as corrosion. This can cause a lot of inconvenience and material damage. Often it is sufficient to locate and repair the leak, but sometimes it may be necessary to replace the complete pipe network. In order to be able to make this decision properly, it is important to determine the location of the leakage is as well as get insights into what circumstances have caused it.