Swedish company PowerCell is supplying fuel cell systems to German H2 aircraft startup H2FLY. PowerCell has signed a follow-on contract with H2FLY to supply aircraft fuel cell systems worth 40 million Swedish kronor (around €3.5 million) for delivery in 2023 and 2024.
The follow-up order includes fuel cell systems with a capacity of 1.8 megawatts as well as services and tests. In June 2022, PowerCell had already received a first order worth 45 million kronor from H2FLY. This is the second order H2FLY has placed with the Swedish company. In June 2022, the H2 aircraft developer already ordered “multi-megawatt fuel cell systems as well as services and tests” worth 45 million crowns (around 3.9 million euros). Now follows a second order for the repeated delivery of fuel cell systems for aircraft to be delivered in 2023 and 2024. Services and tests are included in addition to the systems themselves in the order as well.
Only a few weeks ago, H2FLY announced the next generation of its FC system ‘H175’ for aircraft with a capacity of 20 to 80 seats. The modular drive unit, which operates in the megawatt range, is designed to enable significantly higher flight altitudes than before. According to the Stuttgart-based company, the H175 development programme is responsible for the development, integration and testing of the entire hardware and software of the new fuel cell system.
Richard Berkling, CEO of PowerCell, describes the new order as “yet another confirmation that we are leading the transformation to emission-free, sustainable aviation”. They are the clear market leader for hydrogen-electric solutions in the aviation industry, which are “technically demanding and has extremely high safety requirements”.
“The potential for hydrogen-powered aircraft is enormous,” expresses Josef Kallo, co-founder and CEO of H2FLY. “By the end of this decade, our first commercial systems will be certified and in operation worldwide. In the early 2030s, our scaled-up system will make it possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions for at least half of global air traffic.”
H2FLY GmbH was founded in 2015 by five engineers from the German Aerospace Center in Stuttgart and the University of Ulm and is working to bring the first certifiable, fully hydrogen-electric aircraft propulsion system to market. The company is based in Stuttgart. The company’s main focus is currently on integrating liquid hydrogen tanks into the HY4 test aircraft.
In December, H2FLY announced that it had also taken over the management of the HEAVEN project, which has been running since 2019, against this background. The initiative aims to build a powertrain based on fuel cells and cryogenic technology. H2FLY has already been responsible for the fuel cell system, the HY4 integration platform and the aircraft system architecture including control of the fuel cell and LH2 tank systems as part of the project, which will run until September 2023. In addition, H2FLY is establishing a centre for H2 aviation together with Stuttgart Airport.
Keyword: H2FLY orders FC systems from PowerCell