Thursday 17 June 2021

Rolls-Royce pledges £80m to develop aviation energy storage tech

Rolls-Royce is planning an investment of £80 million in the development of energy storage systems (ESS) for the aviation industry.

It is entering new aviation markets, aiming to develop ESS that will enable aircrafts to undertake zero emission flights of more than 100 miles on a single charge.

The ESS solution will power electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOLs) in the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market and fixed-wing aircraft, with up to 19 seats, in the commuter market.

By 2035, Rolls-Royce is planning to integrate more than five million battery cells per year into modular systems.

Rolls-Royce hopes the investment, which will be made over the next decade, will help strengthen its position as the leading supplier of all-electric and hybrid-electric power and propulsion systems for aviation.

Rob Watson, Director of Electrical, Rolls-Royce said: “This multi-million-pound investment by Rolls-Royce over the next decade is another demonstration of our ambitions in electrification.

“We are developing a portfolio of energy storage solutions to complement our electrical propulsion systems. This will ensure that we can offer our customers a complete electric propulsion system for their platform, whether that is an eVTOL or a commuter aircraft. It will enable us to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for all-electric or hybrid-electric propulsion systems, which is incredibly exciting as these new markets develop and expand.”