The possibility of taking an electric plane is now within reach.
The Swiss firm H55 announced Wednesday at Saint-Hubert airport in Longueuil an investment of $100 million to build a battery production plant for the aeronautics sector.
Already, the company expects to supply its first battery modules to the engine manufacturer Pratt&Whitney in 2024 for the manufacture of hybrid Dash-8 prototype aircraft and plans to deliver battery modules to CAE in 2025 for Piper Archer aircraft intended for pilot training.
The president and co-founder of H55, André Borschberg, is full of enthusiasm for the future of aeronautical electric motors. “The program is ambitious: it is to transform the entire fleet of aircraft that fly around the world in a clean way. It will be done in stages. It will start with small aviation and we will need the 26 or 27 years that remain until 2050 to achieve this objective. »
Solar/electric world tour
André Borschberg is not a newcomer in the field. He was one of the two pilots of the Solar Impulse, the first electric plane powered by solar energy to circumnavigate the world, a journey of 43,000 kilometers carried out in 150 days between March 2015 and July 2016.
“I crossed the Pacific in 2015. It was five days, five nights, non-stop, with a solar plane, but above all an electric plane, four electric motors and I can tell you that flying for this For that long, it gives you extraordinary confidence in these technologies. We became certain that electric propulsion would transform the world of aviation. »
Commercial hybrid flights by 2030?
“Now comes marketing. We’re not far,” he said confidently. The H55 projects in Longueuil aim to start with small aviation, with Piper planes, which have a flight autonomy of one and a half hours which is perfectly suited to flight schools. “For regional transport aircraft we can think from 2030 to have an aircraft which integrates electric technology which could be hybrid initially as the Pratt&Whitney project wants to demonstrate”, he adds.
H55 plans to build a 13,000 square foot building for the first phase of its Longueuil factory, but intends to quickly triple and even quadruple this area. In addition to manufacturing, the company also plans to conduct research and development activities at its facilities.
“If all goes well, we will deliver batteries to Pratt&Whitney in less than a year. The machines have been ordered, the teams have started to be set up,” said the general director of H55, Martin Larose, who expects around 200 hires within five years.
Ultimately, H55 believes it will be able to produce half a million battery modules per year and is targeting the entire North American market.
Help: Quebec is waiting
Ottawa will support the project with a loan of $10 million. The Federal Minister of Transport, Pablo Rodriguez, showed great enthusiasm for the project, but also its authors. “We’re with the gang that built the Solar Impulse plane. It’s fascinating. We saw him fly. We wonder how they do it. It reminded me of Jules Verne, Around the World in 80 Days. He did it a little [moins] fast as that, but without fuel! »
Quebec has not announced a contribution to date, but André Borschberg has made no secret of the fact that he hopes for one, speaking of his discussions with the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon , and repeating that “state support is important”. Present at the announcement, Mr. Fitzgibbon did not disappoint: “We will arrive downstream, clearly, to help, for the factory. We’re going to be there. The structure has not yet been determined, but we will definitely be there,” he said.
Also on site, the mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, was also delighted, not only for the investment, but also and especially at the prospect of seeing the numerous flight schools at Saint-Hubert airport being placed in mute. “It’s good news for the environment, yes, but it’s also good news for local populations because we know that green aviation is also a way to reduce noise, so noise pollution generated by the airline industry. »