The Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) has invested £20 million in hydrogen-electric aviation developer ZeroAvia as pat of its latest funding round.
The SNIB investment in ZeroAvia comes as part of a $150m (£115m) Series C funding round which also included Alaska Airlines, Airbus and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund.
ZeroAvia is developing the world’s first zero-emission, hydrogen-electric engines for commercial aircraft.
Founded in California, ZeroAvia targeting future flight routes in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands as well as “actively exploring” potential manufacturing sites in the country.
In January, the company formed a partnership with ScottishPower to explore green hydrogen supply options at Scottish airports.
ZeroAvia plans to commercialise its engines for aircraft by 2027 and has a longstanding partnership with AGS Airports.
AGS operates Aberdeen International Airport and Glasgow Airport.
ZeroAvia hydrogen-electric engines
The company is developing two hydrogen-electric engine designs which aircraft operators can retrofit into existing planes.
ZeroAvia has submitted its 600kW ZA600 engine for certification with regulators, while its ZA2000 engine can be retrofitted into 40-80 seat regional turboprops.
In July, Edinburgh-based electric airline Ecojet signed an agreement to purchase 22 ZA2000 engines, with an option for 40 more.
It followed a separate purchase from Ecojet in November last year for 70 ZeroAvia engines.
© Supplied by ZeroAviaSNIB said its £20m investment is its first in the sustainable aviation industry as well as its first in hydrogen-based technology.
The bank joined previous ZeroAvia investors including American Airlines, International Airlines Group and ITOCHU Corporation.
Other investors in the latest funding round include Airbus, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Investment Fund, the UK Infrastructure Bank and Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
SNIB investment director Robin Tayal said investing in ZeroAvia will enable “critical research and manufacturing”.
“Decarbonising aviation is one of the key environmental challenges we face and it is fundamental to the net zero transition,” Tayal said.
© Supplied by Charlotte Street Par“ZeroAvia has a robust long-term plan for the growth of its technology, which will bring tremendous benefits to the wider supply chain and manufacturing sector.”
ZeroAvia founder and chief executive Val Miftakhov said the “exceptionally strong” financing round will help the firm deliver “the clean future of flight”.
“As a purpose-driven impact investor, the [SNIB] is an ideal partner for ZeroAvia,” Miftakhov said.
“Scotland’s ambitious net zero targets, its strategic focus on hydrogen and its strong existing aerospace skills base make it an attractive place for ZeroAvia’s UK production operations as we scale into a major aerospace manufacturer.”