L-up is thrilled to support the HECATE project (“Hybrid-ElectriC regional Aircraft distribution Technologies”), a three-year research initiative co-funded by the European Union’s Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking Programme and UK Research and Innovation with roughly 40 million Euro (34 million Euro from the EU and 6 million Euro from the UK).
As the aviation industry works to achieve its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the development of hybrid-electric aircraft is seen as one of the key ingredients to success. Yet in order to support hybrid-electric propulsion systems, new high-voltage distribution technologies will be required, as electric power levels increase from hundreds of kilowatts in today’s aircraft, to megawatt levels in the aircraft of the future. The HECATE consortium will work to address this challenge for regional platforms, with a specific goal of demonstrating a >500 kW hybrid-electric architecture in ground tests by 2025.
The project officially started on 1 January 2023 and had its kick-off meeting at the premises of the coordinating organisation Collins Aerospace in Cork / Ireland.
HECATE’s 37-member consortium mobilises key EU-based industries throughout the entire supply chain, from aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to system integrators to system and subsystem suppliers, five of which are SMEs. 17 Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) complement and reinforce the industries, which also ensures knowledge gained is embedded in future research and education programmes.
For more information please visit HECATE.
Click here to read the official press release (Collins Aerospace website).
