Hydrogen aviation partnership - Universal Hydrogen and H3 Dynamics

"New industries are seldom built by one individual or one company,” said Taras Wankewycz, founder and CEO of H3 Dynamics. “They require coalitions and ultimately entire ecosystems.” Universal Hydrogen and H3 Dynamics announced a new partnership in hydrogen aviation. “At H3 Dynamics, we have more than a decade of experience in hydrogen-powered flight, with a focus on powertrains for unmanned—and soon manned—aircraft,” said Wankewycz. “And as Universal Hydrogen is clearly positioned to lead the market in hydrogen fuel services for aviation, it is natural for our companies to work together to make true zero emissions flight a reality.” The two companies will leverage their respective strengths to build scale with greater speed in the hydrogen aviation space.

The collaboration will initially focus on the full range of unmanned aircraft, from small drones to large unmanned cargo delivery, with H3 Dynamics developing and supplying fuel cell powertrain solutions and Universal Hydrogen providing green hydrogen fuel logistics using its modular capsule technology. The partnership extends to manned aircraft, including eVTOL and other light aircraft segments. The two companies also agreed to collaborate in the regional aircraft market, focusing on new-build regional airliners with a distributed propulsion architecture.

“This partnership is an instant force multiplier for the scale and reach of both companies and will enable us to move faster to offer true zero-emissions solutions across a broad range of aircraft,” said Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen Co. “For this reason, we are also looking at standing up a joint R&D center in Toulouse, France, as Toulouse is a critical talent hub for us both.”

“Energy transition for a complex and expansive sector like aviation requires a whole-value chain approach, where each segment of the hydrogen value chain is ready at the same time,” said Eremenko. “This collaboration between H3 Dynamics and Universal Hydrogen allows us to complete the hydrogen value chain for several rapidly growing aviation segments, and to do it much more quickly.”