A consortium of aviation companies are to take part in demonstrations to assess regional electric aviation transport. They include US hybrid-electric power system developer Ampaire.
There are two demos. One is in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. The second is between Exeter and Cornwall in the UK’s south-west region.
The UK’s 2ZERO (Towards Zero Emissions in Regional Aircraft Operations) programme will include demonstration flights of Ampaire’s six-seat Electric EEL aircraft, and, in a later phase, of a 19-seat Eco Otter SX, hybrid-electric upgrade of the workhorse Twin Otter commuter aircraft.
These testbed aircraft will be used to develop and evaluate requirements for a fully integrated electric aviation infrastructure.
Consortium partners include Rolls-Royce Electrical, University of Nottingham, Loganair, Exeter and Devon Airports, Cornwall Airport, Heart of the Southwest Local Enterprise Partnership (HotSWLEP), and UK Power Network Services.
The team has received a share of £30 million from the Future Flight Challenge for its 2ZERO proposal to demonstrate hybrid-electric aircraft on regional routes in the south-west of the UK. The project is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
One of the objectives of the 2ZERO programme is to simulate a point-to-point (PTP) route system for regional flights using efficient hybrid-electric aircraft.
“For electric aviation to become commonplace, and play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gases, we need to look at not only electric aircraft but the entire ecosystem to support electric aviation. That will be a key aim of the 2ZERO programme,” said Susan Ying, Ampaire Senior Vice President for Global Partnerships.
https://youtu.be/6e0p5hIbJHY
