Catalyst
LYON, France–An Avio Aero-led consortium has been awarded €34 million ($36 million) for a technology demonstration program that combines a fuel cell and a hybrid-electric propulsion system based on a GE Catalyst turboprop.
The four-year agreement helps the European Commission’s Clean Aviation public-private partnership materialize, as the Joint Undertaking is proceeding with the first contracting phase.
Dubbed Amber, the demonstrator will be ground tested in the mid-2020s, according to the plan of Avio Aero, a GE Aerospace company. It is aimed at validating technologies for a megawatt-class, hybrid-electric propulsion system powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Studied will be integration of hybrid-electric components—including a motor-generator, power converters, and power transmission systems—with a fuel cell.
The parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system will be based on a Catalyst supplemented by an electric motor powered with the fuel cell.
Germany-based H2FLY—a company specializing in the development of hydrogen-electric power systems for aircraft—will supply the megawatt-class fuel cell system along with the corresponding architecture, interfaces, and fuel cell controls. Leonardo will provide guidance on aircraft integration. Other partners in the 21-member consortium include German aerospace research center DLR and its Italian counterpart, CIRA.
The hybrid-electric technologies developed with Amber will be compatible with advanced engine architectures, such as an open fan, Avio Aero says.
“Clean Aviation’s primary ambition is to drive a step change in aircraft performance by radically boosting efficiency in aircraft and fleet performance,” said Axel Krein, executive director of Clean Aviation. “For regional aircraft, our goal is an improvement of at least 50% compared to a typical flight today. The Amber project, as one of our 20 daring new projects now underway, will play a key role in helping us deliver this ambitious target.”
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