Rolls-Royce welcomes EU funding to advance sustainable aviation

Rolls-Royce welcomes the decision of the European Union’s Clean Aviation programme to proceed with over €700m of funding for 20 aviation research and innovation programmes from across the industry. Following the evaluation of first Call for Proposals, a proportion of this funding, subject to successful completion of grant preparation, will enable Rolls-Royce and partners, to carry out ground-breaking research that will accelerate sustainable propulsion and decarbonisation research. 

The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking is the European Union’s leading research and innovation programme for transforming aviation towards a sustainable and climate neutral future. Rolls-Royce will be a partner in six programmes including the lead co-ordinator in the three research and innovation projects outlined below: 

HEAVEN – Hydrogen Engine Architecture Virtually Engineered Novelly:

The consortium is led by Rolls-Royce and contains key academic, research and industrial partners across France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. This project will significantly develop our scalable UltraFan® architecture and suite of technologies for future civil aviation opportunities and provide a platform for Hydrogen technology and hybrid-electric technology to be suitably incorporated into our civil aerospace portfolio.

HE-ART – Hybrid Electric propulsion system for regional AiRcrafT:

This consortium consisting of a diverse industrial, research and academic team is led by Rolls-Royce with partners from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom.  HE-ART will focus on demonstrating enabling technologies for hybridization by ground demonstration of a hybrid-electric thermal turboprop (e-TP) while taking important steps towards an optimized hybrid propulsion system for a future regional aircraft.  

CAVENDISH – Consortium for the AdVent of aero-Engine Demonstration and aircraft Integration Strategy with Hydrogen:

Led by Rolls-Royce, this consortium will involve significant academic, research and industrial partners from Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. CAVENDISH will integrate liquid hydrogen systems onto a modern donor engine for ground testing. The project will also explore alternative enabling technologies in the form of a dual fuel combustor system, a cryo-compressed tank system and define requirements and activities towards flight demonstration.  

Alan Newby, Director of Aerospace Technology and Future Programmes, Rolls-Royce said: “We are delighted to be asked to proceed to grant preparation by the European Union’s Clean Aviation programme. Rolls-Royce is focused on advancing sustainable power and propulsion systems and this will build on our existing expertise to help accelerate the technological breakthroughs that could help deliver net zero carbon by 2050 and transform the way that we travel.”