The German state of Rhineland-Palatinate is supporting the Koblenz-based company AeroDCS GmbH in the development of the UAV Air Barrow Fuel Cell with an innovation grant of EUR 340,000.
“Rhineland-Palatinate has set itself the goal of achieving balance sheet electricity coverage from 100 percent renewable energies from 2030 onwards. Hydrogen is one of the future energy carriers because it can be used flexibly and is easy to transport,”
said Daniela Schmitt on the occasion of the notification in Koblenz.
“The basis for success will be to advance the expansion of renewable energies and to support research projects such as that of AeroDCS GmbH,”
says Schmitt.
As part of the project, the Koblenz-based company AeroDCS GmbH is developing a new type of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), often also referred to as a drone. It is an unmanned aerial vehicle that is autonomous in the air and can be controlled from the ground. This makes it possible to use the drone in areas that are difficult to access or dangerous.
The new Air Barrow Fuel Cell to be developed will have a combined battery-electric and hydrogen-based fuel cell propulsion system, so that it can fly for up to 10 hours with a launch mass of 24.9 kilograms and a payload of 8 kilograms. The Air Barrow Fuel Cell can be used in a variety of areas and, for example, due to its large range, it can be used to deal with crisis situations, e.g. a flood disaster like in the Ahr Valley.
The Koblenz-based company AeroDCS GmbH is a manufacturer and service provider founded in 2019 that specializes in the field of remote aerial sensing. With the help of an expert team of 15 employees, the company offers flight missions with the recording of images and evaluation of the results in order to be able to guarantee the inspection of pipelines, power lines, monuments and architecture without any problems.
“In the course of adapting the energy system to the requirements of the energy transition, natural gas will be pushed out of the pipelines step by step by 2045 and replaced with hydrogen. Carrying out a visual inspection of the lines every two weeks with fossil-fuelled helicopters is then out of date at the latest. That’s why we are already developing UAS today that run on the same hydrogen that flows in the pipelines, enabling infrastructure to be protected in a sustainable way.”
Ralf Hoffmann, AeroDCS GmbH
The funding comes from the InnoTop technology funding program of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The project is being funded as part of the Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the state development bank, the investment and structure bank of Rhineland-Palatinate (ISB) implements the InnoTop program.
Source: Press Release (translation by Google)