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Investigation and Maturation of Technologies for Hybrid Electric Propulsion

Project description

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Investigation of hybrid propulsion’s technologies and potential

Commercial aviation is seeking new technologies to meet the goal of carbon neutral growth. Accordingly, IMOTHEP’s top-level objective is to assess the actual potential offered by hybrid electric propulsion (HEP), a promising option to achieve a step increase in aircraft efficiency. IMOTHEP will perform an in-depth investigation of electric technologies for hybrid electric aircraft in close connection with advanced aircraft configurations and innovative propulsion architectures. Aircraft designs will be selected based on their potential to reduce fuel consumption, in particular in short and medium range missions. The project will identify key enablers and technology gaps for HEP development, as well as required tools, infrastructures and regulatory adaptations. These will be assembled in a final sector wide roadmap for HEP maturation.

Objective

To meet the goal of a carbon neutral growth of commercial aviation, the top level objective of IMOTHEP is to achieve a key step in assessing the potential offered by hybrid electric propulsion (HEP) and, ultimately, to build the corresponding aviation sector-wide roadmap for the maturation of the technology.
The core of IMOTHEP is an integrated end-to-end investigation of hybrid-electric power trains for commercial aircraft, performed in close connexion with the propulsion system and aircraft architecture. Aircraft configurations will be selected based on their potential for fuel burn reduction and their representativeness of a variety of credible concepts, with a focus on regional and short-to-medium range missions. From the preliminary design of aircraft, target specifications will be defined for the architecture and components of the hybrid propulsion chain. Technological solutions and associated models will then be investigated with a twenty year timeframe perspective. In order to identify key technological enablers and technology gaps, the integrated performance of the electric components and power chain will be synthesized by assessing the fuel burn of the selected aircraft configurations, compared to conventional technologies extrapolated to 2035.
The project will also address the infrastructures and tools required for HEP development, as well as the need for technology demonstrations or regulatory evolutions. Eventually, all these elements will feed the research and technology roadmap of HEP, which will constitute the final synthesis of the project.
To achieve these ambitious goals, the 54-month project is supported by 7 R&D institutes, 11 industries (from aviation and electric systems), a service SME and 7 universities from 9 EU countries, plus 2 RTD organisations from Canada. The requested EU grant is 10 392 845 Euros.

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Call for proposal

H2020-MG-2018-2019-2020

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Sub call

H2020-MG-2019-SingleStage-INEA

Funding Scheme

RIA - Research and Innovation action

Coordinator

OFFICE NATIONAL D'ETUDES ET DE RECHERCHES AEROSPATIALES
Net EU contribution
€ 1 769 769,71
Address
CHEMIN DE LA HUNIERE
91120 Palaiseau
France

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Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Essonne
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost
€ 1 769 769,71

Participants (34)

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Last update: 2 May 2024

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/875006

European Union, 2024