THE infrastructure needed to support zero-emission flights could be in place by 2027, it was heard at the Glasgow Airport Hydrogen Innovation Hub summit.
The aviation hydrogen summit, held at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland in Paisley, saw leaders in aviation, finance, aerospace, renewables and engineering in attendance with academics and the government.
A consortium led by Glasgow Airport and net zero consulting co-developer Ikigai Group was set up in May last year thanks to funding from the Scottish Government.
The Glasgow Airport Hydrogen Innovation Hub consortium was tasked with delivering a feasibility study to determine the most efficient, bankable, green hydrogen production, storage and refuelling solutions, and to assess the operational feasibility of a multi-modal hydrogen hub at the airport.
The interim results of the study were presented to more than 100 attendees at the summit.
This included an update that the development phase to generate, store and distribute hydrogen could commence this year with the objective of the hub being ready to support zero-emission flights at Glasgow Airport by 2027.
Jon Matthews, group head Capital Investment and Planning at AGS Airports, which owns Glasgow Airport, said: "Hydrogen is becoming an increasingly viable option for regional and short-haul aircraft, which is why Glasgow – an airport that serves many of Scotland’s rural and island communities – is the perfect testbed."
Helena Anderson, co-founder of Ikigai, said: "This feasibility study is a world first, modelling and designing how to deliver scalable and commercially viable onsite green hydrogen to a variety of transport applications in and around Glasgow Airport."
The project is expected to create a blueprint that would future-proof regional airport operations and could potentially be replicated not just at AGS Airports' other airports in Aberdeen and Southampton, but around the world.
Scottish airline Loganair signed a Memorandum of Understanding with zero-emission flight specialists ZeroAvia last week, to begin supplying hydrogen planes from 2027.
Andy Smith, head of Sustainability Strategy at Loganair, said: "Hydrogen fuel is expected to play a significant role in decarbonising flights from airports like Glasgow in the coming decades and it has a particularly important role to play in Loganair’s future domestic network. "
Gillian Martin, Scottish Government Energy and Environment minister said: "This project is driving technological progress and advancing innovation.
"I hope that the learning from this project will bring the possibility of commercial hydrogen flight ever closer.”
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