ZeroAvi a leader in developing zero-emission solutions for commercial aviation, and Absolut Hydrogen, a leader in liquid hydrogen (LH2) technologies, have announced a partnership to jointly explore LH2 production, storage and refuelling at airports.
The partners will work together to build and demonstrate liquefaction and liquid hydrogen storage in an airport context and ultimately explore the technology developments, concept of operations, safety procedures and standards for larger-scale deployment to deliver liquid hydrogen to aircraft.
Grenoble-based Absolut Hydrogen, a subsidiary of Groupe Absolut, is a world leader in developing LH2 systems for heavy-duty mobility for aeronautical, maritime and land applications, building upon Groupe Absolut’s expertise and deep industry knowledge in complex cryogenic systems. Absolut Hydrogen is offering a full LH2 product range with an entry small-scale hydrogen liquefaction system (< 50 kg/day), a 100 kg/day Turbo-Brayton based H2 liquefier and a 1T/day liquefier based on the same technology.
Whilst ZeroAvia’s first certified powertrains for up to 19 seat aircraft will be powered by gaseous hydrogen, the ZA2000—a 2–5.4 MW modular powertrain for 40–80 seat aircraft, targeting entry-in-service in 2027—will require liquid hydrogen. This will improve the volumetric energy density of the fuel, enabling support for larger aircraft, flying more passengers, on longer typical routes.
Arnab Chatterjee, VP Infrastructure, ZeroAvia, stated: “As well as building our in-house liquid hydrogen knowledge over the last few months, it has been critical to establish partnerships to begin building the ecosystem that can deliver liquid hydrogen fuel for larger aircraft, at larger airport locations. Retaining and growing aviation will bring us all closer together and keep the world small, but it depends upon this quest for zero-emission aviation being successful.”
