“New lines of work are committed to disruptive disruptive technologies that make more sustainable air transport systems possible”
Zero-emission electric propulsion systems to be used for urban and inter-urban mobility applications
TECNALIA is working on developing technologies for electric propulsion systems for urban and regional mobility, which will be the first propulsion systems of these types made in Spain.
Although the electrification of ground propulsion systems has reached high levels of technological and manufacturing advancement, stringent safety and energy density requirements for air transport make it difficult to use electric propulsion in that sector. Therefore, new lines of work are committed to developing disruptive technologies that make more sustainable air transport systems possible.
ITP Aero, the leading aeronautics company in these initiatives, aims to produce five different propulsion system variants with a very wide power range, from 60 to 600 kilowatts, in order to integrate the complete system.
Control of the propulsion system
Meanwhile, TECNALIA will develop the control of the propulsion system that will command the power required from the electric motor, monitor the components of the propulsion system and notify the element that has overall control of the aircraft in the event that the required power cannot be delivered for some reason.
These zero-emission electric propulsion systems will be targeted at urban and inter-urban mobility applications such as air taxis: they will provide fast city-airport connection services, intra- and inter-city travel, emergency services and logistics operations.
Two public-private partnership initiatives
These initiatives are being developed through public-private partnerships.
- The Aperturas project is subsidised by the Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI). In addition to TECNALIA, ITP-Aero, Ingeteam, Egile, Zeleros, Umiles-Next, technology centres and universities such as CTA, CEIT, Mondragon University and UPValencia are also involved.
- The Preludio initiative is subsidised by Hazitek 2022, the Basque Government's business R&D support programme, in which ITP Aero, Ingeteam, Alconza, Antec, Suprasys, Egile, technology centres and universities such as TECNALIA, CTA, CEIT, Mondragon University, Ikerlan and IRDE are also involved.
