FutureFlight
Honeywell Will Demonstrate Higher-Power Turbogenerator This Year
The new system will be around two and a half times more powerful than a unit that the company rolled out in 2019.
Honeywell turbogenerator
Honeywell Aerospace expects to demonstrate its new one-megawatt turbogenerator before the end of 2021. (Photo: Honeywell Aerospace)

Honeywell Aerospace is working on a turbogenerator for hybrid-electric aircraft and expects to demonstrate it later this year. The propulsion system combines a one-megawatt generator with the company’s existing HGT 1700 auxiliary power unit to operate as a turbogenerator that is two and a half times more powerful than an earlier prototype unveiled by the U.S. company in 2019.

The 280-pound turbogenerator will be able to work in conjunction with high-power electric motors and/or charge batteries. It will run on aviation biofuels, such as Honeywell’s own Green Jet Fuel, as well as conventional jet-A or diesel.