How Norway aims to lead the way in electric planes
This piece is the first of a series about green flying, with a focus on the efforts to develop a viable electric passenger aircraft. The idea is to make of this a dynamic text, that will be updated as soon as there are novelties in this space.
Northern Lights
Scandinavia is at the centre of the action when it comes to green flying. The region, already well known for its environmental tradition and relatively abundance of carbon-free energy sources, is seeing industry and governments get together to lead the transition of commercial aviation away from fossil fuels.
We expect to delve deeper, in the near future, into the different initiatives that are currently under way or at planning stage in the Nordic countries. Let’s start with the country that, a priori, seems to have committed itself, as a country, to what is, so far, the most ambitious set of targets.
The Norwegian path to green flying
Norway’s particularly bold approach combines strong legal and fiscal measures with investment in a number of promising research projects.
Local aviation companies, such as airport operator Avinor and airline Wideroe, have taken a leading role in these efforts, in cooperation with major international players, such as Rolls-Royce and Airbus.
But the most relevant of all, and what makes the country stand out, is its commitment to a specific hard deadline.
2030 for the kick-off of domestic electric flights
2040 for all domestic flights to be electrically-powered
Norway’s Road Map to Electric Flying
Norway has set up a task force to come up with a detailed road map towards green electric flying which should be ready already before the end of 2020.
This electric aviation task force is integrated by the following organizations:
Norwegian Civilian Aviation Authority
EASA
Avinor (Norwegian airports operator)
Airbus
Safran
Leonardo
Wideroe
SAS
The Way to electric flying
The implementation of this vision will depends on what happens in two fronts:
Governmental support measures and incentives
These will include a combination of tax policies aimed at encouraging the transition to green flying direct support measures such as support schemes for the development and acquisition of new electric planes and investment in the necessary infrastructure, for example, the installation of the necessary infrastructure, such as charging stations at airports.
Applied research and development programmes
These intend to produce viable technologies that facilitate electric aircraft entry into service within the target time-frame.
Government support measures
A first step towards a more greener flying has already been debated and starting to be implemented, although it will first focus on making conventional flying greener through the introduction of a larger amount of biofuel.
A newly introduced measure forces airlines to include at least 0.5% of biofuels in the fuels they us, with the goal of making this 30% by 2030.
Here are some of the other measures that are being planned or considered:
Support schemes for the adoption of electric aircraft
Grants to adapt infrastructure at airports
VAT exemptions
Tax exemptions for passengers flying on electric planes
Waiving of airport charges for green flights
Reduced tax rates for electricity consumed by airplanes
Green Aviation Investment Programmes
Fiscal and legal measures are not of much use unless specific tangible green aviation technologies become available and can be deployed in a safe and economically sound manner. In this regard, the Norwegian green aviation task force is betting on a number of initiatives that should lead to such outcome:
Avinor
The Norwegian airport operator has a programme to test electric aircraft, which suffered an initial setback in 2019 when a light Pipistrel electric aircraft on a test flight crash-landed, with no injuries reported, on a lake on a flight that was carrying the head of the airport operator and a secretary of state of the Norwegian government. Avinor has since renewed its confidence in the Slovenian-made electric aircraft maker by purchasing a new aircraft to replace the older one that was involved in the incident. As reported in this press release, the airframe could be recovered, but most of the components had to be replaced, with a cost similar to that of purchasing a brand-new aircraft.
The Pipistrel Velis Electro 600, which is the model being Avinor uses in its test flight programme, is a two-seater with a battery capacity of 24.8 kWh (which gives it a range of about an hour flight).
Wideroe
A regional airline operating most domestic flights the length and breadth of Norway, Wideroe is looking for a replacement for its veteran Dash-100, Dash-200 and Dash-300 turboprops.
This fact, together with the characteristics of the Norwegian network, that has many STOL airfields, abundant carbon-free hydroelectricity capacity and relatively short segments, means that there is capacity to invest.
Rolls-Royce and Wideroe have a joint programme for zero-emissions aviation.
Additional resources on Green Flying:
We recommend you check this podcast we did in the spring of 2020 with aviation propulsion expert Bjorn Fehrm about green flying and the pros and cons of electric aircraft