A company specializing in hydrogen-fuel cell systems for aircraft has partnered with a German airport to establish a facility for developing and testing passenger planes utilizing the fuel.
On Monday, H2FLY announced the establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Hydrogen in Aviation, a joint venture with Stuttgart Airport in the state of Baden-Württemberg scheduled to open near the end of next year.
The new centre will be managed by H2FLY and planning is currently in progress for a hangar with substantial research and development infrastructure at the airport. Various businesses and scientific institutes will be able to use the centre to test their hydrogen-aviation technology.
H2FLY team works on hydrogen-electric aircraft. Photo via H2FLY
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The state of Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry of Transport will be partially responsible for funding the project, providing €5.5 million.
“I welcome today’s launch of the Centre of Excellence for Hydrogen in Aviation at Stuttgart Airport. It will make an important contribution to the future of emission-free aviation,” said Anna Christmann, Germany’s Federal Government Coordinator of Aerospace Policy yesterday.
“With the Hydrogen Aviation Centre, H2FLY will create a focal point for the entire ecosystem of emission-free, hydrogen-electric flight. Developments and applications in the field of commercial, hydrogen-electric aviation will thus be significantly advanced and collaboration with various partners will be pooled,” said Josef Kallo, CEO of H2FLY.
“This project will enable our region to become not just a centre of R&D for hydrogen aircraft, but eventually also a manufacturing centre, and demonstrate how we are countering climate change with a spirit of innovation,” said Winfried Kretschmann, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg.
rowan@mugglehead.com
