Embraer partners with EDP to energize electric flight programme

EMB-203 Ipanema: going electric soon

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Embraer’s most recent announcement in the field of green flying is how aviation OEMs are expanding the breadth and scope of their strategic partnerships well beyond the aviation sector.

A few days ago we reported how also Embraer had partnered with Porsche and, although that one is clearly not in the field of green aviation (one day we need to talk about the credentials of executive aviation in this area in more detail), the development of new air mobility concepts is bringing together aerospace and car manufacturers, which are themselves also transitioning to electric modes of propulsion.

This time is a major power company, the Brazilian subsidiary of EDP (Portugal’s main electricity producer), which has partnered with Embraer to test and develop electric flight technology . It is expected that by joining forces, both companies, which have both been running electric research projects for a while, will be able to boost advances in electric-powered flight.

The first test bed airframe for this project will be the EMB-203 Ipanema, an old workhorse, which has been produced by the Brazilian OEM for quite a few decades already. Interestingly, this aircraft has had, for years, a version designed to run on ethanol, a biofuel.