ZeroAvia and ScottishPower will work together to develop low-carbon hydrogen supply to key airport locations to support decarbonisation of the aviation sector.
As well as exploring airport hydrogen supply models and financing, the companies will also explore clean power requirements and hydrogen production infrastructure for potential future ZeroAvia sites within ScottishPower’s distribution network areas across Scotland, North West England and North Wales.
ScottishPower’s energy generation operations are already 100% renewable and powered by its UK wind farms, with the company offering retail and business customers wholly clean energy on green tariffs.
ZeroAvia recently announced a 70-engine agreement with Scotland-headquartered Ecojet, backed by the prominent environmentalist and entrepreneur Dale Vince. ZeroAvia also has a longstanding partnership with AGS Airports, to explore the hydrogen infrastructure requirements for airports to support hydrogen-electric flight and other potential use cases.
Sergey Kiselev, chief business officer at ZeroAvia, said: “With the plethora of existing renewables, and many projects planned, Scotland has the chance to lead the UK in developing clean hydrogen supply. Working with leading energy companies like ScottishPower can help us overcome fuelling infrastructure challenges.”
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. The only emission is water. ZeroAvia is already well advanced in flight testing a prototype of its first engines for 20-seat planes from its R&D hub in Gloucestershire, while working on the engine systems for larger 40- to 80-seat aircraft.
