H2Fly has announced its new proprietary fuel cell system H175, a modular power unit capable of flying at altitudes of up to 27,000ft.

The H175 programme will build a series of fuel cell systems that can be combined to power hydrogen-electric megawatt-class range aircraft which have 20 to 80 seats. H2Fly said it will develop, integrate and test the fuel cell systems hardware and software in-house.

The new achievable attitude marks a step on the path from lower altitude viability flight demonstrations to real-world commercial aircraft applications, said H2Fly.

Josef Kallo, CEO and co-founder of H2Fly said: “With H175 we introduce a completely new generation of aviation-grade fuel cell systems, pushing forward the state of the art in the industry. By developing this new system, but also working to solve the challenges of using liquid hydrogen with fuel cells in the HEAVEN project [a project to demonstrate the feasibility of using liquid, cryogenic hydrogen with fuel cells in aircraft], H2Fly is bringing together all crucial elements to realize truly sustainable, commercial air travel.”

H2Fly is planning to test the first generation of its H175 system in flight demonstrations late this year. In addition, as part of the German government’s ‘328 H2-FC’ project, the firm will integrate H175 fuel cell systems into a Dornier 328 demonstrator aircraft. Funded by the German government, 328 H2-FC is a joint project to develop and flight test a hydrogen-electric fuel cell system in the megawatt range.

H2Fly has built and tested six generations of powertrains. Last year, the company’s testbed aircraft HY4 set what the firm believes to be a world record for hydrogen-electric passenger aircraft flying at an altitude of 7,230ft.