Plug Power announced a strategic partnership with Airbus to study the feasibility of bringing green hydrogen to future aircraft and airports worldwide.

As part of its goal of bringing zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035, Airbus has identified green hydrogen as one of the most promising options to decarbonize air travel and will be working closely with Plug Power on a joint study and roadmap that could deliver green hydrogen to aircraft and the airport ecosystem in the coming years.

Plug Power will build deployment scenarios for green hydrogen infrastructure at airports, while Airbus will provide insight on hydrogen aircraft characteristics.

We at Airbus see huge potential for green hydrogen to power our future zero-emission aircraft. This partnership with Plug Power—a true pioneer in developing green hydrogen infrastructure across the United States, and key points across Europe and Asia—will enable us to leverage their expertise to decarbonize airports while preparing them for the arrival of hydrogen aircraft by 2035.

—Glenn Llewellyn, Airbus Vice-President, Zero-Emission Aircraft

Today, the aviation industry represents between 2-3% of global human-induced CO₂ emissions. Airports are large cargo hubs that traditionally rely on fossil fuels to power a wide array of ground transport and equipment, and to heat buildings and terminals. Green hydrogen, which is produced through the electrolysis of water with electricity generated from renewable energy sources, has been earmarked by a variety of industries as a potential means to achieve their decarbonization targets, and the aviation industry is no exception.

As part of the partnership, Plug Power and Airbus will select a US airport to serve as the first “Hydrogen Hub” pilot airport in North America, serving as a case study for hydrogen infrastructure scale-up at other airports.

Airbus launched its “Hydrogen Hub at Airports” concept in 2020 to jumpstart research into infrastructure requirements for future hydrogen aircraft, as well as low-carbon airport operations, across the entire value chain. Plug Power and Airbus will also consider setting up a range of joint projects as part of this partnership to further pioneer the deployment of green hydrogen infrastructure for aviation, at scale.