Zero-emission aircraft engine technology provider ZeroAvia and Nordic energy company Fortum have signed an MOU to explore the development of hydrogen production and refueling infrastructure at airports in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – with a view to building a network of zero-emission flight routes.
ZeroAvia and Fortum will investigate the potential development of on-the-ground hydrogen infrastructure at relevant airports with the aim of removing emissions from both flights and the wider airport ecosystem. On-airport hydrogen infrastructure can also support complementary traffic from heavy-duty transportation, materials handling equipment and other energy-consuming systems.
According to ZeroAvia, the Nordic countries will be among the early adopters of zero-emission flights. The company has already demonstrated its Hydrogen Airport Refueling Ecosystem (HARE) at its R&D hub in Kemble in the UK and is working with a range of airports on projects to establish the infrastructure and operations to operate zero-emission routes as early as 2025.
Arnab Chatterjee, vice president of infrastructure at ZeroAvia, said, “As hydrogen hubs, airports can help reduce climate and air quality impacts of flight and a raft of other operations. Scaling the renewable energy capacity and reducing costs pose clear, but fully surmountable, challenges to hydrogen as the fuel to power truly clean flights. Fortum is well positioned as a partner in this space, given the company’s clean energy focus and its emerging hydrogen leadership.”
Torbjörn Wilén, senior manager of hydrogen business development at Fortum, said, “ZeroAvia is a leader both in demonstrating clean flight and in building the model for how hydrogen refueling will work in aviation. We believe that ZeroAvia and Fortum together can explore excellent options for clean aviation, both on the ground and in the air.”
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