ZeroAvia today announced that it will build a major manufacturing facility for production of its hydrogen-electric powertrains at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland, close to Glasgow Airport in Renfrewshire.
“ZeroAvia’s Hydrogen Centre of Excellence will support the company in a range of manufacturing operations relating to powertrain production and testing and will also be the company’s primary location for production of advanced high temperature PEM (HTPEM) fuel cell stacks and supporting systems,” said the company in a press release. “With nearly 3,000 full engine and component orders agreed with airlines and OEMs – corresponding to over USD10 billion in future revenues – ZeroAvia is advancing its production operations to meet demand.
“The new facility will complement ZeroAvia’s Propulsion Center of Excellence in Washington State which is focusing primarily on electric motors and power electronics. The company also has plans to expand its R&D and aircraft testing centre at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire.
“The project in Scotland, which will unlock millions in private investment and support hundreds of jobs over the next few years, has been made possible by a UKP9 million Regional Selective Assistance grant from Scottish Enterprise. This follows an equity investment of UKP20m from the Scottish National Investment Bank into ZeroAvia as part of the company’s Series C funding, with the UK National Wealth Fund investing UKP32m as a cornerstone-level investor in the round. The Series C round was led by Airbus, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and NEOM Investment Fund.
“The UK Government awarded ZeroAvia and consortium partners UKP10.5 million to develop the advanced HTPEM fuel cells in 2024 via the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme in conjunction with the Department for Business and Trade and Innovate UK. The UK Government has awarded ZeroAvia UKP18.5 million total R&D funding since 2019 to develop their fuel cell and powertrain technology. This support alongside more than UKP250 million private investment has enabled ZeroAvia to make rapid progress: flying the world’s first hydrogen-electric commercial scale aircraft in 2020, more than doubling the power output to again fly the world’s largest hydrogen-electric aircraft in 2023, manufacturing and shipping fuel cell systems to customers, and securing significant regulatory traction for the certification of its first powertrains. “
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