Schiphol is conducting tests with the first hydrogen-powered GPU at the airport. The unit in question is the H2-GPU, a hydrogen-powered ground power unit (GPU) that supplies stationary aircraft at the gate with power, for example for lighting and power in the cockpit.
Schiphol is the first airport in the world to have a working H2-GPU and allow it in operations. The H2-GPU was developed by Dutch hydrogen scale-up zepp.solutions in collaboration with Dynell, an Austrian GPU manufacturer.
Schiphol is working towards being emission-free with all its own ground operations. Some of the stationary aircraft at the gates are already powered by battery-based e-GPUs (electric ground power units). A challenge in using these e-GPUs is that they have to be moved to charging points for recharging. The new H2-GPU can be refuelled by a tanker truck on site, saving considerable time. Aditionally, the capacity of e-GPUs is still insufficient for some of the operations resulting in diesel GPUs remaining necessary. The H2 GPU can also provide a solution in this regard.
During the pilot at Schiphol, only green hydrogen, produced without CO2 emissions with electricity from sun and wind, will be used.
Accelerating Sustainability
The test is being conducted in collaboration with KLM and several partners and is co-funded by the EU. The H2-GPU was developed by zepp.solutions, a scale-up from Delft, and Austrian GPU manufacturer Dynell. KES manages the GPU pool at Schiphol Airport and provides utilisation.The GPU is partly subsidised by the EU and is part of TULIPS, a European partnership of 29 aviation parties and knowledge institutes, led by the Royal Schiphol Group.
