Airbus may have stated it could potentially go it alone when it comes to producing its hydrogen-electric engine. However, it has at least settled on an engine-maker for the prototype of the fuel-cell powertrain. And it is not one of the aerospace engine household names. Instead, the European planemaker has decided to go with Japanese-owned French electric motor specialist Nidec Leroy-Somer.

The project for a hydrogen-electric engine as a parallel track to a hydrogen combustion engine was revealed by the aerospace giant in November last year. This is part of Airbus' grander ambition to have a zero-emission aircraft propelled by hydrogen ready for commercial service by 2035 through its overarching ZEROe project.

Committed to overcoming challenges

The President of the Commercial & Industrial Motors Division for Nidec Leroy Somer, Jean-Michel Condamin, commented on the contract,

"We are pleased to have been selected by Airbus to provide our expertise in high efficiency electric motors and contribute, through our innovative R&D teams and solutions, to this ambitious, eco-friendly commercial aviation project. This important milestone for more sustainable mobility, presents several challenges that we are committed to overcome, to serve the global community”.

Nidec Leroy-Somer, which is a part of Japan's Nidec Group, currently supplies technology for various industries, including the navy, nuclear, railway, automotive and robotics. Through the new agreement with Airbus, it will now work toward the decarbonization of aviation.

Photo: Airbus

Beyond developing the engine prototype itself, the company has also been tasked with looking at breakthrough technologies and innovations to optimize the architecture of the aircraft propulsion system as a whole.

The process, including project management, design, engineering and prototyping, will take place at Nidec Leroy-Somers headquarters in Angouleme, France.

Airbus' Munich facility for zero-emission propulsion

While Airbus has much expertise in-house, including setting up its Airbus UpNext Innovation Ecosystem, and its E-Aircraft System House (EAS) at the manufacturer's facilities in Munich. The EAS is Europe's largest facility dedicated to testing alternative propulsion systems and fuels.

Photo: Airbus

According to Martin Nüsseler, Head of E-Aircraft Systems, the €50-million investment opened in 2019 is where Airbus will put the engines through their paces. He states that,

"We can test everything from electric motors for unmanned flying taxis to hybrid-electric engines for the commercial aircraft of the future.”

The overall intention behind the EAS is to develop in-depth expertise on alternative propulsion technology and to help launch the first generation of zero-emission commercial aircraft. Hydrogen and hydrogen-electric may be top of the wish list for clean propulsion (including, of course, the renewable energy to produce all the green hydrogen required).

However, for a while, Airbus entertained the idea of developing a hybrid-electric engine known as the E-Fan X project, together with Rolls-Royce. This particular project was abandoned in 2020, but the OEM is also working on the EcoPulse, a distributed hybrid-propulsion aircraft demonstrator developed in partnership with Daher and Safran, with Airbus supplying the battery technology.