Hydrogen powertrain developer ZeroAvia announced on Monday that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with hydrogen fueling firm ZEV Station to develop green hydrogen refueling infrastructure for airports in California. Hopes are that the initial projects will eventually lead to a hub-and-spoke refueling system with an H2 Hub and zero-emission airports.

Hydrogen players determined to get the gas to airports

Hydrogen as a fuel for aircraft, be that hydrogen-electric or through internal combustion engines, has many proponents. It also has many naysayers. One of the obstacles commonly cited by hydrogen's detractors, beyond onboard storing issues, additional weight added by tanks, or cost, is the lack of infrastructure. However, those invested in hydrogen as a means for aviation to clean up its (carbon) act are not precisely sitting idly on their thumbs when it comes to getting it to the operators.

The mutual undertaking between ZeroAvia and ZEV will commence with an initial regional airport pilot project. However, the companies say it will be at sufficient scale to demonstrate the feasibility of hydrogen refueling for aircraft.

ZeroAvia will plan demonstration flights from the airports in the program, while ZEV Station will provide a co-developed refueling ecosystem and dedicated support. Arnab Chatterjee, ZeroAvia's Vice President of Infrastructure, said,

“There is enormous potential for airports to act as hydrogen hubs precisely because there will be significant demand—hydrogen-electric propulsion is the only practical, holistic and economically viable solution to the industry’s full climate impacts. California leads the world in the adoption of zero-emission vehicles thanks to forward-thinking policies and deployment of infrastructure, and zero-emission flight infrastructure at airports is the next natural frontier."

zeroavia hydrogen refueling station zev stations
Whatever solutions airports invest in, they must be future-proof to not become obsolete a few years down the road. Photo: ZeroAvia / ZEV Stations

H2 Hub

ZEV Station is new on the cleantech scene, founded just last year. The startup aims to increase the availability of both battery charging and fuel-cell refueling stations. It envisages a hub-and-spoke model for high-volume green hydrogen production facilities and satellite fueling stations, both for hydrogen-powered ground vehicles and planes. Jesse Schneider, CEO and CTO of ZEV Station, commented on the newly formed partnership,

"As a future step, there is great potential to take these learnings towards the creation of Zero Emission Airports with a large central hydrogen production at scale, an H2-Hub. This H2-Hub, with zero carbon energy, would generate a significant amount of green hydrogen on-site for both aircraft and vehicles. This could offset the need for carbon-based fuel at airports entirely, but there is a lot to be done to make this a common reality."

ZeroAvia
Photo: ZeroAvia

Dornier 228 test flights imminent

In other news, ZeroAvia says that it will begin test flights with its Dornier-228 testbed aircraft within the coming weeks. The intention is to deliver a fully certified 600kW powertrain model for aircraft of up to 19 seats by 2024. Optimistically, the first commercial flight has already been scheduled between London and Rotterdam The Hague Airport the same year.

Meanwhile, the following deadline ZeroAvia has set itself is to have a 1.8-megawatt powertrain for 40 to 80 seat aircraft by 2026. Ground tests are scheduled to commence later this year.

What do you make of a hub-and-spoke hydrogen refueling model and ZEV Station's vision of an H2 Hub and Zero Emission Airports? Leave a comment below and join the H2 conversation.