ZeroAvia and Absolut Hydrogen to develop liquid hydrogen refuelling infrastructure

ZeroAvia and Absolut Hydrogen have announced a partnership to jointly explore liquid hydrogen (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.

The move cements ZeroAvia’s advantage at developing solutions for large regional turboprops and beyond, following the recent announcement of its high-temperature fuel cell technology promising the necessary power for larger aircraft.

Whilst it allows for greater range, the challenge with liquid hydrogen is that it needs to be stored cryogenically, and losses caused by liquid boil-off need to be minimised.

Arnab Chatterjee, VP, Infrastructure, ZeroAvia, said: “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.”

Jérôme Lacapère, CEO of Absolut Hydrogen, said: “This partnership with ZeroAvia is an opportunity to take a new step towards a more sustainable aviation. Liquid hydrogen is considered the most advantageous state for tomorrow’s aviation and heavy-duty mobility in general, and Absolut Hydrogen enables its availability thanks to its H2 liquefiers.”