Airbus and Linde to develop airport hydrogen infrastructure

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Airbus and gases and engineering specialist, Linde have signed an MoU to develop hydrogen infrastructure at airports globally. 

The two firms signed an initial cooperation agreement in Singapore in February, 2022. The MoU covers global hydrogen supply chains, from production to airport storage, including the integration of refuelling into normal ground handling operations. 

Philippe Peccard, vice president, Clean Energy, Linde said: “We are pleased to expand our successful collaboration with Airbus to a global scope. By harnessing both companies’ competencies we are well positioned to collaborate with airports and government authorities in the development of viable concepts for sustainable airport hubs based on hydrogen.”

Both will define and launch pilot projects at several airports from early 2023 onwards. In addition, Airbus and Linde will analyse the potential of Power-to-Liquid fuels — a type of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) made from the synthetically produced liquid hydrocarbon through the conversion of renewable electricity.

Sabine Klauke, chief technical officer, Airbus said: “We are advancing well with hydrogen as an important technology pathway to achieve our ambition of bringing a zero-emission commercial aircraft to market by 2035. Building the infrastructure is just as crucial. That’s why we are working closely with partners like Linde, who have decades of experience and expertise worldwide in the storage and distribution of hydrogen.”

In 2020 Airbus launched the Hydrogen Hub at Airports programme, to date agreements have been signed with partners and airports in France, Italy, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.

The first ZEROe concept aircraft were also unveiled in 2020, and development of the corresponding technology is now underway by an R&T network focused on developing hydrogen technology for aircraft.