FutureFlight
Hydrogen Fuel Supply Plans Expand on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Companies are determining where and how they can most effectively support aviation's transition to hydrogen fuels.
Project Heart in the UK is aimed at supplying hydrogen fuel to regional airports.
Project Heart in the UK is aimed at supplying hydrogen fuel to regional airports. (Image: Protium)

An alliance between hydrogen suppliers and refueling technology specialists has started working on plans to support hydrogen-powered aircraft operating from UK airports. Under Project Heart, which is partly funded by the UK Research & Innovation agency’s Future Flight Challenge, green hydrogen energy group Protium is working with Haskel to integrate its hydrogen compression system with Nel Hydrogen’s electrolyzer to deliver hydrogen for fuel cell-based electric propulsion trials on aircraft.

The partners are installing their infrastructure at a new hydrogen production facility called Pioneer 2 in South Wales, where production is expected to begin in mid-2024. The companies have not yet confirmed when the Project Heart flight trials will begin or which aircraft or operators will be involved.