CANADA TO PIONEER HYDROGEN FOR AVIATION

Airbus and ZeroAvia partner on Hydrogen Hubs at leading Canadian Airports

“Canada has great potential for hydrogen production from renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric power. These first Canadian hydrogen partnerships enable us to cover the country from coast to coast. Hydrogen stands out as a key enabler as we pioneer a sustainable aviation future. We are very pleased to enter this cooperation with partners fully engaged with our strategy of deploying hydrogen aviation ecosystems in the most suitable parts of the world, now including North America.” --Karine Guenan, Vice-President ZEROe Ecosystem at Airbus

Interview with Karine Guenan

By Suzanne Forcese

WT: Karine, you have led an interesting and diverse career history in the aerospace industry including finance and infrastructure. What is your current role at Airbus?

Guenan: As Vice-President ZEROe Ecosystem at Airbus, I lead the hydrogen ecosystem deployment for the successful entry into service of the ZEROe Aircraft by 2035. Moreover, I am responsible for developing the new hydrogen business development origination and operations. Previously, I was Vice-President Financing & Guarantees, coordinating Airbus’s customer, structure & project financing activities over our 3 divisions, with a focus on the monitoring of the group’s exposure and supervising Airbus Financial Services in Dublin and Airbus Bank in Munich. 

WT: Please give us an overview of Airbus and the company’s mission: 

Guenan: Airbus is actively working on all its decarbonization roadmap levers to enable a low-carbon and successful future for aviation. We aim at partnering with pioneering players to ensure the timely readiness by 2035 of our hydrogen-powered aircraft; the airports to welcome such novel aircraft; and the energy ecosystem that can make it possible. 

WT: Congratulations on your recent partnership with UK & California start-up ZeroAvia that is developing the world’s first zero-emissions engines for commercial aviation.

In a whitepaper produced by ZeroAvia, the company states: “We need to plan for adopting large hydrogen-powered aircraft today, right up to the 200-seat airframes, while we look ahead to a future where all aircraft can be powered by a fuel produced from just two ingredients — renewable energy and water.”

How does that statement fit with the Airbus vision?

Guenan: Airbus believes Hydrogen is one of key levers in the industry’s journey towards net-zero in 2050 (on top of aircraft fleet renewal, SAF, better aerodynamics, enhanced air traffic management, etc.) 

We are convinced that hydrogen will have an important role to play and is essential for the long-term sustainable aviation that we are calling for. 

WT: In 2020, Airbus launched its ZEROe hydrogen powered aircraft project. Can you tell us about the progress.

Guenan: We are progressing concretely and quickly both on the technology and ecosystem developments. Alongside the development of the technology bricks now underway for our future hydrogen-powered aircraft, the ZEROe, Airbus launched the “Hydrogen Hub at Airports” program to jumpstart studies of the hydrogen infrastructure requirements and low-carbon airport operations across the entire value chain. 

Building that hydrogen ecosystem is essential to getting our ZEROe aircraft into service by 2035.

WT: Airbus and Zero Avia have signed 3 MOUs with Canada's busiest airports. What does this mean for Airbus and what do you envision as the end goal? 

Guenan: Airbus and ZeroAvia have signed three respective Memorandums of Understanding with Canada's three busiest airports: Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Vancouver International Airport to study the feasibility of hydrogen infrastructure at airports in Canada; to support the hydrogen aircraft operations; and airport/handling and refueling services. 

The scope of the study will include all aspects of the end-to-end hydrogen supply chain, production, distribution and storage up to the use at the airport. 

These partnerships will also support the development of the necessary regulatory and operational guidelines with respect to hydrogen infrastructure and refueling operations in Canada.

WT: Please tell us about the "Hydrogen Hubs at Airports" program. What ecosystems will be part of this program and how are you bringing all the players together?

Guenan: The race for hydrogen-powered commercial aviation starts on the ground. Hydrogen has to be produced, transported and stored in the right quantity, at the right time, place and cost. Its production and use must be regulated and certified. 

Airbus believes the deployment of hydrogen infrastructure at airports is a prerequisite to support the widespread scale-up and adoption of hydrogen aircraft.

This is why Airbus launched in 2021, the “Hydrogen Hub at Airports” program. This global initiative aims at partnering with hydrogen producers and distributors worldwide, airports, and airlines to build the right ecosystem to operate a hydrogen-powered aircraft by 2035. We’re already bringing together all the key players to the table. 

Airbus collaborates with airports that are planning a stepped approach including using hydrogen to decarbonize their airport-associated ground transport (heavy goods logistics, buses, tow trucks) in the 2025 to 2030 timeframe. This will pave the way to hydrogen availability for aircraft in the 2030 timeframe. To date, Airbus has partnered with 18 airport hubs in 14 countries. Stay tuned for more partnerships like this by the end of the year.

WT: What are the ZEROe hydrogen decarbonization innovations that Airbus is pioneering. How can hydrogen be used in aviation? What are the potentials? What are the concepts that you have developed to date and what are the projected timelines?

Guenan: Hydrogen’s main advantage is it doesn’t emit carbon emissions during flights. In 2020 Airbus revealed four different hydrogen-powered concept “ZEROe” aircraft: 

• A turbofan concept (up to 200 passengers) with a range of 2,000+ nautical miles, capable of operating trans continentally and powered by a hybrid turbofan engine made of a gas-turbine running on hydrogen supported by an electrical motor powered by fuel cells. The hydrogen will be stored in liquid form and distributed via tanks located behind the rear pressure bulkhead. 

• A turboprop concept (up to 100 passengers) based on a hybrid turboprop engine made of a gas-turbine running on hydrogen supported by an electrical motor powered by fuel cells, which would be capable of travelling more than 1,000 nautical miles, making it a perfect option for short-haul trips. 

• A “blended-wing body” concept (up to 200 passengers) concept in which the wings merge with the main body of the aircraft with a range similar to that of the turbofan concept: flight distance up to 2000+ NM. This concept is used to explore innovative alternative future aircraft new configurations (as the automotive sector would do with their concept cars) that may emerge in the medium-term future. 

• A fourth fully electrical concept (up to 100 passengers) was revealed in December 2020, also capable of 1000 nautical miles and based on a fully electrical propulsion system powered by fuel cells

We believe the technologies required to power a hydrogen-powered aircraft will be mature enough for a target entry-into-service date of the mid-2030s (by 2035).

WT: What are the milestones you have accomplished to date? 

Guenan: On fuel cell technology, our biggest achievement is the successful full flight profile testing of the 1.2MW fuel cell powertrain. The test capability which we have built allows us to test normal and abnormal operations meaning we can explore scenarios where certain components fail, check that the system reconfigures itself in the correct way and allows continued safe operation. 

More recently, we’ve integrated the full propulsion system with the electric motor, in our EAS Test House, and completed a full power channel demonstration. 

On the hydrogen combustion side, last year, ArianeGroup, a joint venture with Airbus and Safran, successfully completed a proof of concept of a hydrogen conditioning system adapted to power an aeronautical gas turbine. This first experiment, a project called HyPERION, was made possible by reusing equipment designed for space application. This is an essential building block of the hydrogen combustion technology roadmap to 2035

WT: What is next?

Guenan: We see an interest in the potential of superconducting technologies for hydrogen-powered aircraft. In May this year, Airbus UpNext, a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus, launched a new technological demonstrator to accelerate the maturation of superconducting technologies for use in electric propulsion systems of a future hydrogen-powered aircraft. 

Known as Cryoprop, the new demonstrator, developed by Airbus teams in France and Germany, will integrate and mature a two megawatt-class superconducting electric propulsion system cooled by liquid hydrogen via a helium recirculation loop. 

It is worth noting that the day we announced the hydrogen hubs at Canadian airports, two other announcements involving major American airports took place.

Airbus, Houston Airports, and the Center for Houston’s Future joined forces to study the feasibility of a hydrogen hub at George Bush Intercontinental Airport; and Airbus, Delta Air Lines, Plug Power, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport unveiled studying feasibility of a hydrogen hub at the world’s busiest airport. 

This year is special for Airbus in Canada as we celebrate our 40-year anniversary.

In Canada, more than 4,500 people work at ten sites and Airbus offices and subsidiaries covering the commercial airliner, helicopter, defense, and space sectors. Airbus' presence in Canada contributes to approximately 23,000 indirect jobs and generates more than C$2 billion in revenues annually for more than 850 Canadian companies. 

The A220 is the only Airbus commercial aircraft program to be piloted outside of Europe, making Canada the most significant official presence of Airbus outside of Europe.

Related: Scaling Hydrogen Electric Propulsion