Airbus is strengthening its presence in Germany with the opening of a ZEROe Development Centre (ZEDC) for hydrogen technologies at its Stade site. The centre will accelerate the development of composite hydrogen-system technologies for storing and distributing cryogenic liquid hydrogen.

A priority for the Stade ZEDC is the development of cost-competitive lightweight Hydrogen systems (e.g. cryogenic Hydrogen tank) in composites. The technology development will cover the product and industrial capabilities from elementary parts, assembly and the manufacturing-related testing of the liquid hydrogen (LH2) composite tanks. The tank development is coordinated with the other Airbus national entities.

“Establishing a composite related ZEDC in Germany strengthens our Research and Technology footprint in the country and ensures the involvement, from the start, of leading experts to support our decarbonisation ambition", says Sabine Klauke, Airbus Chief Technical Officer. "Furthermore, the ZEDC will benefit from the wider composite research and development ecosystem such as the Airbus subsidiary Composite Technology Center (CTC GmbH), the CFK NORD in Stade as well as from further synergies from space and maritime activities.”

The ZEDC in Stade is supported by public fundings (e.g. LuFo, Lower Saxony funding and others) and will also be linked to the planned Innovation and Technology Center Hydrogen (ITZ) in Northern Germany to realise the potential of hydrogen technology and contribute to the decarbonisation of the aviation industry.

The ZEDC Stade is part of a network of development centres for technologies to decarbonise the aerospace industry. It will complement the other activities from Airbus sites in Bremen (Germany), Nantes (France), Madrid (Spain) and Filton (UK) to get a hydrogen powered aircraft in the sky by 2035.