MHI RJ Aviation Group and ZeroAvia have reached an agreement. MHIRJ will assist in the certification of ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain for installation into airframes in the regional jet markets by providing technical services, aircraft integration, and its industry-renowned OEM experience.
ZeroAvia is well on its way to certifying its ZA600 600kW powerplant for smaller, 10-20 passenger aircraft, with a 2024 launch date anticipated. At the same time, the business is developing the ZA2000, a 2-5MW modular powerplant that is expected to enable 40-80 seat turboprops by 2026. Passengers will be able to fly in zero-emission regional planes as early as the late 2020s thanks to the ZA2000RJ powerplant.
With this arrangement, the CRJ Series aircraft will be among the first to fly with truly zero-emission engines. Since its inception, the CRJ Series has produced over 2,000 aircraft, successfully establishing itself as the backbone of regional aviation in the United States.
The parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the end of last year that led to this enlarged arrangement.
Val Miftakhov, CEO and Founder of ZeroAvia, stated from the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he was debating the route to sustainable aviation: “Hundreds of CRJ Series airplanes transport millions of people on a daily basis across North America. Before the end of the decade, all of these flights can and should be zero-emission. This deal represents a significant step forward in the delivery of hydrogen-electric engines to the regional jet market.”
The agreement is the first in the hydrogen propulsion sector for MHIRJ’s Aerospace Engineering Centre (AEC). The Aerospace Engineering Centre at MHIRJ intends to provide engineering, design, and certification services to third parties by leveraging its engineering team’s extensive knowledge and experience.
MHIRJ President and CEO Hiro Yamamoto said: “This partnership with ZeroAvia excites us since it advances two vital aims for MHIRJ. The first is to expand our AEC company by collaborating with other organizations and using our extensive engineering experience in this cutting-edge initiative. The second advantage is that we are a member of the value chain for introducing new sustainable technologies to the region.”
