Exploring Hydrogen's potential for GSE

Hydrogen fuel is expected to play a significant role in decarbonising flights in the coming decades. 

While there are still many unknowns in terms of timescales, James Cox, public affairs manager at Bristol Airport in the UK, believes hydrogen aviation will come in two main phases. 

He forecasts that we’ll see the early, smaller regional aircraft powered by gaseous hydrogen in this decade, followed by the deployment of large wide-bodied airliners in the mid-2030’s, which is expected to require liquid hydrogen.

While progress continues on hydrogen-powered aircraft, equally important is the work being undertaken at ground level to develop the infrastructure required to support zero-emission flights.

One of the biggest infrastructure changes will be the need to store fuel on site. During the early introduction of hydrogen operations, the key infrastructure required will be gaseous hydrogen storage and refuelling equipment.

This may be either in a fixed location or use mobile refuelling vehicles. In low demand situations on-site electrolysis may be viable, says Ian Sutherland, senior project manager of energy transition and hydrogen at US-based international engineering services company Jacobs, but in most cases it’s anticipated that hydrogen will be sourced from an external supply.

As demand increases, liquid hydrogen will be introduced, which will require additional infrastructure in the form of supply, storage, and potentially liquefaction capability.

“Experience of handling and refuelling with hydrogen in an airside environment is low, and while many of the required regulations are in place in the UK, we lack practical experience,” says Cox.

With this in mind, last year Bristol Airport hosted Project Acorn, which was the UK’s first airside hydrogen refuelling trial in a commercial airport.

The project was conducted with partners including easyJet, Cranfield University, DHL Supply Chain, and Jacobs. By refuelling ground support equipment (GSE), Project Acorn demonstrated that the hydrogen gas can be safely and reliably used in a busy, live airport environment.

“There’s a compressed time window for the aviation industry to develop the ground infrastructure, safety standards, and operational procedures needed to make the sector’s operations hydrogen-ready,” says Cox.

“Project Acorn was designed to be a first step on this journey, with limited trials of GSE accomplishing a key objective of receiving clearance for airside refuelling from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which played an active role in the trial as an independent reviewer of the safety case.”

The partners used the outputs of the trial to help develop industry best practice standards, providing guidance to airports, airlines, local authorities and regulators on required infrastructure changes, and support the development of a regulatory framework for hydrogen’s use on an airfield.

Bristol Airport is a member of Hydrogen in Aviation (HIA), a partnership that brings together leading organisations across the value chain from airlines and airports to manufacturers and energy producers..

Together, they’re recommending the development of ‘hydrogen pioneer airports’ in the UK: a network that can serve as a testing ground for accelerating hydrogen-powered flight.

“Areas of focus would include standardisation and filling the remaining regulatory gaps,” says Cox, “ultimately, hosting early hydrogen flights.”

Bristol Airport also supported the creation of Hydrogen South West, a cross-sector consortium that’s working to create a hydrogen ecosystem across the region.

“This will help develop the necessary production and transportation infrastructure we’ll need in the long-term. We don’t feel we can passively sit back and wait for this to happen – we need to be clear now what our future demand requirements will be, given the long-lead times of this infrastructure,” Cox adds.

Many proactive organisations are working to accelerate the introduction of hydrogen-powered aviation. Jacobs, for example, which worked on Project Acorn, has been involved in several government-funded research projects, and most recently completed a hydrogen aviation transition plan for the Connected Places Catapult.

Other airports are also pushing forward, including Glasgow Airport, whose Hydrogen Innovation Hub consortium is working to get the airport ready for zero-emission flights by 2027. A key part of its work is to create a blueprint hydrogen hub that could be replicated not only by AGS Airports’ Aberdeen and Southampton sites, but by other airports around the world.

The UK isn’t alone in taking steps to embrace hydrogen aviation. An international example comes from Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), which is pivoting from a transportation-only facility to an energy and transportation hub “with a focus on how we fit into the aviation ecosystem,” explains Chad Willis, director of planning, environmental, and sustainability at PIT.

“We’re working with several partners to build out on-site hydrogen production, becoming one of the few airports in the world to produce sustainable aviation fuel.”

There is one issue, however, which could be slowing down infrastructure development. This is hydrogen’s ‘chicken and egg’ issue.

“We cannot fully embrace hydrogen use, as supply is costly and limited. However, the high cost of production facilities requires offtakes. Both ends of the equation need attention,” says Willis.

“There’s demand but no supply, and vice versa,” Cox continues. “We need other sectors who will use hydrogen in considerable amounts long before aviation does, to lead development of generation and movement infrastructure. We’re supporting that through Hydrogen South West.”

Both agree that governments also have a key role in supporting the aviation industry with this large-scale change.

“There are currently few incentives for building the required infrastructure, and as such, deployment will be slow,” says Willis.

“Additional government support would be welcomed as airports revenues are limited and this infrastructure could be costly at a larger scale.”

“I don't think that the government has clocked the massive private investment that will be required by airports in the 2030,” Cox agrees. “We’ll want to see a supportive, stable policy environment to enable that investment.”

While it may be too early for many airports to invest in significant hydrogen infrastructure, Chris Pickard, director of sustainable aviation at Jacobs, believes it's hugely important that they still take steps now to safeguard for the future.

“Consideration should be given within airport master plans and land use strategies,” he notes. “As the timeline for the introduction of hydrogen-powered aircraft becomes clearer, this safeguarding will allow airports to respond to the demand and be ready to accommodate these aircraft.”