An innovative aviation project led by Airbus and supported by academic partners, airport operators and leading hydrogen-industry companies has been launched to demonstrate and assess liquid-hydrogen handling and refuelling technologies. The EU-funded GOLIAT project (Ground Operations of LIquid hydrogen AircrafT) brings together ten partners from eight countries to advance the widespread deployment of hydrogen at airports. The project will receive 10.8 millions euros in funding over four years from the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) is represented in the GOLIAT project by the Institute of Electric Power Systems (IfES). Its main area of inquiry will be the design and cost-effectiveness of the liquid hydrogen (LH2) supply for airports. The IfES is home to specialised knowledge on the modelling, optimisation and technical-economic evaluation of LH2 supply chains and refuelling systems for aviation. LUH’s main contributions will therefore focus on the calculation of LH2 fuel costs at airports, the comparison of the cost-effectiveness of different hydrogen supply chains and the detailed examination of the costs and sensitivities of LH2 refuelling systems. These analyses will enable a better understanding of the infrastructure and accompanying investments required in future. They are therefore an important contribution to a more climate-friendly future.
As a clean and efficient fuel, LH2 offers a promising solution for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with airport operations and their dependence on fossil fuels. LH2’s high energy density makes long-range travel for aircraft possible, but there are still many steps necessary to enable the widespread deployment of hydrogen at airports. These include the need to better understand the operational, regulatory, economic and safety impacts, as well as the capacity and performance of the technologies.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Richard Hanke-Rauschenbach, head of the IfES at Leibniz University Hannover, explains: “We are very pleased to join the GOLIAT team and to contribute our expertise on the techno-economics of green LH2 supply infrastructures to the project. Such demonstrations are not only an important step towards making hydrogen-powered aviation a reality, but also provide valuable insights for the future development of a cost-effective and reliable LH2 supply chain. Identifying the requirements for the infrastructure as early as possible is crucial to the success of our joint efforts towards a more climate-friendly air transport system.”
The GOLIAT project partners are Airbus, H2FLY, Chart Industries, TU Delft, Leibniz University Hannover, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Stuttgart Airport, Budapest Airport, VINCI Airports and the Royal Schiphol Group.
More information about the GOLIAT project:
