Umeå wants to enable hydrogen aviation by 2035

A three-year project is now starting, and a concrete result is expected to be an outline of the facilities required to establish and scale up opportunities to refuel hydrogen-powered aircraft. Swedavia's airport, Umeå Airport, will be a model for solutions at smaller and medium-sized airports.

Increasing the transition to fossil-free aviation

The FlyH2UME project develops knowledge and prepares for a scalable facility at Umeå Airport for hydrogen-fuelled aircraft. The project is helping to accelerate the transition to fossil-free aviation, focusing on hydrogen and liquid hydrogen as fuels. Alongside the development of airports, there is also the development of aircraft, hydrogen production routes and the capacity of the electricity grid.

The FlyH2UME project is digging deeper into the conditions at Umeå Airport and will propose concrete measures to meet future needs for hydrogen and liquid hydrogen, based on the regional hydrogen market. An important part concerns safety requirements that must be followed when handling hydrogen and liquid hydrogen. The design of the hydrogen facility and its scale-up is expected to serve as a model for other airports to establish hydrogen flights. The project is, therefore, relevant for other airports and cities in Sweden and internationally.

The parties have previously collaborated in a broad study of the climate transition of aviation, in addition to hydrogen-powered aviation, also biofuels for aviation (SAF) and electric aviation. They are now taking this work further to deepen their knowledge about hydrogen.

Aviation important for creating accessibility in northern Sweden

Umeå municipality has high climate ambitions and wants to be a pioneering city in the climate transition. The city has been named one of the EU's 100+ Mission Cities and has decided on the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2040. The transport sector has been identified as a significant part of the local climate footprint and aviation is part of this. At the same time, aviation fulfils an essential function in creating accessibility in northern Sweden.

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden has a solid background working with hydrogen and hydrogen gas and has been researching in the area for more than 10 years. RISE contributes to FLYH2UME with expertise in hydrogen as an energy source for aviation and safety issues in an airport environment. The project will also bring together a reference group of key players in the development of hydrogen aviation in an international market.

Swedavia has been fossil-free in its state-owned company, Swedavia will be a role model forairport operations since 2020 and is now working on the transition for other operators at all ten airports with the goal of the airports being completely fossil-free by 2025. As a State-owned company, Swedavia shall be a role model in sustainable development. Swedavia endeavours to be proactive regarding reducing the environmental impact of aviation while constantly striving to ensure the continued transformation of the aviation industry as a whole.

- Hydrogen is part of the future of fossil-free aviation. As an airport operator, Swedavia, therefore, works continuously to adapt our airports for the future and fossil-free aviation. Switching to hydrogen-fuelled flights is a significant challenge for the airports and their infrastructure, but it is also vital. This project, therefore, represents a significant and essential step towards the possibility of storing hydrogen and being able to refuel with hydrogen at our airports in the future," says Fredrik Jaresved, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation at Swedavia.

Source: RISE