Toulouse, Blagnac (TLS) H2 Station to Open in 2025

Airbus and ArianeGroup—a joint venture of Airbus and Safran and a world-leader in space propulsion technologies—have announced they will work together to build the first liquid hydrogen refueling facility for ZEROe aircraft at Toulouse, Blagnac airport (TLS). The station is slated to be operational in 2025.

Airbus, in support of its illusory objective of developing a financially and logistically viable, zero-emission, commercial aircraft by 2035, has contrived three hydrogen-powered, concept aircraft to which the airframer has collectively ascribed the pithy sobriquet ZEROe. The ZEROe designs comprise turboprop, turbofan, and Blended Wing Body (BEB) architectures.

All three ZEROe concepts are powered by gas turbine engines modified to run on liquid hydrogen. Airbus asserts hydrogen fuel cells create electrical power that complements the gas turbine, thereby making possible highly efficient hybrid-electric propulsion systems.

For purpose of testing hydrogen combustion technology, Airbus has retrofitted A380 MSN1—the first-ever A380 to roll off the production line—with an aft, port-side, fuselage-mounted, gas-turbine engine modified to run on Hydrogen fuel. Dubbed the ZEROe demonstrator, the A380 testbed elegantly bridges Airbus’s recent past and near future while evincing the consortium’s immutable espousal of the gambler’s fallacy.

Through future ground and flight testing aboard MSN1, Airbus hopes to achieve “a mature technology readiness level for a hydrogen-combustion propulsion system by 2025”—a timeframe consistent with the ostensible opening of the Toulouse liquid hydrogen refueling facility.

Of his company’s having been tasked with the design, production, support, and operation of the liquid hydrogen fueling system critical to the ground and flight test campaigns of Airbus’s ZEROe demonstrator, ArianeGroup CEO André-Hubert Roussel states: “Airbus’ choice of us as partner is a vote of confidence, recognizing half a century of expertise in liquid hydrogen for Ariane rocket propulsion. We are proud to be working with Airbus on these first steps towards liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft. Aviation and space are two pioneering industries. Uniting our expertise is our responsibility to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. ArianeGroup, with its unique skills and know-how in the storage, testing, and use of liquid hydrogen, enables new industrial sectors in Europe to accelerate their energy transition.”

Airbus chief technology officer Sabine Klauke added: "Many of the technologies required for a zero-emission aircraft are already available in other industries, and liquid hydrogen handling is no exception. Preparing for the entry into service of a zero-emission aircraft in 2035 means that we need to mature all of the required technologies in parallel. By partnering with ArianeGroup, we will leverage well known hydrogen expertise and other relevant space technologies in the pursuit of this goal."

ArianeGroup is the prime contractor of Ariane launch vehicles, the entirety of which have been propelled spaceward by liquid hydrogen rockets for more than forty-years.

FMI: www.airbus.com