Copyright © 2022 ZeroAvia, Inc.
The year has flown by (pun intended). At ZeroAvia we’re looking back at another great year for hydrogen in aviation and the sector as a whole. The imperative for disruptive zero-emission technology was made even clearer this August, when we witnessed the earth’s hottest summer ever recorded by NASA. At ZeroAvia, we are swiftly advancing our powertrains and components to pioneer a cleaner future for aviation, and our team have been some very busy elves…
2024 saw us complete the highly successful HyFlyer II programme which has tested a prototype of our first powertrain (the ZA600 for 10-20 seat aircraft), and we completed our 14th test flight of the system aboard the Do 228 testbed. HyFlyer II was named as the Project of the Year by the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute, a huge honor.
But, we did not rest on our laurels and have now submitted our ZA600 and component applications for certification with both the FAA and CAA, bringing us closer to commercial deployment.
If this wasn’t exciting enough, we were honored to be named as TIME’s Top American Greentech Company, which recognised the technical achievement and market success ZeroAvia has achieved to date. As well as this, the ZA600 was named to TIME’s list of Best Inventions and ZeroAvia selected as the only winner in the Hydrogen category of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Patents for Humanity Green Energy Program 2024.
In addition, we were thrilled to announce the launch of our range of aviation components and systems including electric motors, inverters and fuel cells, which will enable revolutionary advances in aviation applications – including UAVs, eVTOLs, rotorcraft and fixed wing. With demand growing across full powertrain systems and components alike, we made big strides to set up our production operations. We opened our propulsion center of excellence, a 136k sf manufacturing facility in Everett, WA, and plan another manufacturing site in Scotland.
We had notable testing achievements, with our 200kW inverter exhibiting world-leading performance, and, in the second half of the year, we commissioned our electric propulsion test rigs for our motor and inverter technology – key parts of the push towards the world’s first certified zero-emission powertrain for commercial aviation!
We also completed a state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell testing lab, with over 1 MW capacity, making it a global leader in fuel cell testing capabilities – this will be crucial for the scaling of hydrogen-propulsion technology to larger aircraft.
In the summer, we were welcomed back at Farnborough International Airshow, where we announced partnerships with JEKTA for amphibious aircraft, ASL aviation, Ecojet, a liquid hydrogen demonstration flight with KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines and £10.5 million in UK government funding through the ATI for high-temperature fuel cell development. This was followed by a $4.2 million US Federal Grant to further validate the electric propulsion system for 2-5 megawatt applications.
Further agreements with MEHAIR and American Airlines have bolstered our 2000+ engine orderbook, and we saw additional support for American Airlines, alongside Scottish National Investment Bank, ITOCHU and International Airlines Group during the completion of our Series C $150m financing round.
We made significant progress towards unlocking a clean-hydrogen supply chain, by partnering with Verne to explore cryo-compressed hydrogen opportunities in storage and refueling at airports and Scottish Power and RYZE for airport hydrogen supply. ZeroAvia has also begun testing liquid hydrogen tanks in preparation for liquid-hydrogen testing and integration.
This year, we also introduced our AI-driven Smart Hydrogen Production Software (SHAIPS), which real-world testing has shown reduces the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) by more than 20 percent.
Our partnerships grew and we were pleased to partner with Airbus, where we jointly signed three respective Memorandum of Understanding with Canada’s three busiest airports to study the feasibility of hydrogen infrastructure. This cooperation will provide understanding of the hydrogen aircraft concepts and operations, supply, infrastructure and refuelling needs.
We finally wrapped up the year (pun, again intended…) by hosting another successful gathering of influential voices from industry, government, academia, and media during our 5th Annual Hydrogen Aviation Summit!
We are now rigorously preparing for 2025, where we will continue to strive to deliver a truly clean future of flight as soon as possible. So, fasten your seatbelts and get ready for take-off…
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