Projects from 11 companies have been chosen as part of a proposed
H2 Hub Airport ecosystem to support the proposed roll-out of hydrogen-powered
aircraft over the next decade and a half.
The companies have been chosen from 124 applications
received from a call for expressions of interest in a competition launched in
February by Groupe Aéroports de Paris, Air France-KLM, Airbus and Parisian regional
authorities.
The winning companies include Air Liquide Advanced
Technologies, Ecodrome and Geostock of France and Universal Hydrogen, Plug
Power and Ways2H of the US. The winners were
chosen by Philippe Boucly, chairman of France Hydrogène, and Emmanuel Julien, senior
advisor at Enea Consulting, a firm specialising in energy transition.
The projects cover the production, storage, transport and
distribution of hydrogen, the use of hydrogen for ground handling vehicles and
rail transport at airports and the recovery of hydrogen and by-products in the
airport environment.
The first are likely to be developed on-site by 2023 with a
fully functioning ecosystem planned for 2035 when Airbus plans to bring a hydrogen-powered
aircraft to market. It revealed three concept planes, one of which is pictured above, last year.
Augustin de Romanet, charmain of Groupe ADP, said: "The
success of this call for expressions of interest is proof of the growing
interest for hydrogen technologies. With all our partners, we are today laying
the foundations of an ecosystem that will enable the progressive integration of
this clean and sustainable energy carrier at Paris airports, transforming them
into true hydrogen hubs. Our ambition is also to develop new uses around ground
mobility, both airside and landside."
Anne-Sophie Le Lay, executive vice president, corporate
secretary of Air France-KLM, added: "The Air France-KLM Group is convinced
that the use of new energies such as hydrogen is an essential component of the
energy transition. By writing the history of sustainable travel together, we
are enabling future generations to travel freely and responsibly. The winners
selected today are pioneers who will contribute within our ecosystem to the
transformation of our sector.”