Under the partnership, the pair will develop on-airfield hydrogen refuelling and regular domestic passenger flights of zero-emission aircraft.
ZeroAvia – which recently completed its first test flight – is working on bringing to market a zero-emission system capable of flying 20-seat aircraft 300 nautical miles by 2025.
It is hoped this will open up the possibility of ‘green air travel’ from Birmingham to destinations such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast, Isle of Man and Dublin by 2025. Both parties want to make hydrogen-powered travel to Mediterranean holiday destinations a reality and ZeroAvia aims to operate an emissions-free 80-seat aircraft up to 1,000 nautical miles by 2027.
Arnab Chatterjee, Vice President, Infrastructure at Zero Avia, said, “Birmingham Airport can be a central hub in a green flight network in the UK, given that any domestic mainland destination will be reachable from the airport using our first systems in 2025.”
Simon Richards, Chief Finance and Sustainability officer at BHX, added, “We could, quite conceivably, see the first hydrogen-powered domestic passenger flight taking off from BHX in the UK in the next few years.”
Hydrogen electric engines use hydrogen in fuel cells to generate electricity, which is then used to power electric motors to turn the aircraft’s propellers, only emitting water.
In January, ZeroAvia recorded its first flight to be powered by a hydrogen-electric engine, taking place at the company’s R&D facility at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, UK, and lasted six minutes.
Between 10 and 20 flights are expected as part of the test campaign, ahead of planned certification towards the end of the year.
Read more: ZeroAvia records first flight powered by hydrogen-electric engine
BHX plans to use an area on its airfield for hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, testing and operations.
The partnership sits alongside the airport’s own journey to become a Net Zero airport by 2033, as outline in its 2022 ‘carbon roadmap’.
A Successful Ecosystem for Green Hydrogen – London
It is becoming ever clearer that the entire green hydrogen ecosystem requires alignment. Hydrogen’s potential, performance, and safety are proven. Green hydrogen is widely accepted as a core pathway to Net Zero, yet the key levers in the transition are not yet in-sync.
At H2 View we recognise the increasingly challenging economic climate that various countries/economies are currently facing. We want to help as many companies as possible in the hydrogen space to achieve their needs as competitively and logically as possible. As a result, we felt it was a compelling decision to relocate our previously planned event in Iceland, to a venue in London.
Join H2 View in London, one of the foremost investment capitals of the world, for a 1.5-day event devoted to thought leadership, insights, and actionable takeaways in the green hydrogen ecosystem, combined with the connections and networking to deliver against those objectives.
This H2 View hydrogen summit is dedicated to dissecting the ecosystem requirements to truly realise a green hydrogen-fuelled future across industries, transport, and society. This event will tackle all sides of the energy ecosystem, from wind and solar power requirements to additionality, water sustainability, electrolyser technologies, and investment and policy climate.
You can find more information at h2-viewevents.com