Hydroplane Awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Funding from the U.S. Navy for Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Ground Power Unit Development 

Hydroplane has been awarded U.S. Department of the Navy Phase 1 Option Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding to further develop its mobile hydrogen fuel-cell ground power unit (GPU).

“We are honored to support the Navy and Marine Corps in the development of an emission-free, lightweight ground power unit,” says Hydroplane CEO, Dr. Anita Sengupta. “As a small business, we have the agility and innovation mindset to rapidly bring cutting-edge technology from research to operational readiness.”

The funding award is a continuation of the U.S. Navy SBIR Phase 1 contract Hydroplane received in January 2024, allowing the company to continue development on a prototype of the compact, lightweight hydrogen fuel-cell-based GPU for the U.S. Marine Corps in a contested logistics environment. The new product can also be deployed at airports around the country and globe to replace diesel-powered GPUs, furthering the company’s mission to reduce aviation-sector carbon emissions end-to-end.

Hydroplane has previously received an SBIR contract from the U.S. Navy, two U.S. Air Force (USAF) Agility Prime Small Business Technology Transfer contracts, and a California Energy Commission CalTestBed voucher to conduct testing and accelerate commercialization. It was a winner of the Army X-Tech 8 challenge to develop a system for Army rotorcraft electric propulsion and has also raised private funds to develop from the ground up and demonstrate a hydrogen fuel-cell-based electric powerplant for single-engine aircraft.

Concurrently, development is well underway on Hydroplane’s modular hydrogen fuel-cell-based powerplant for the general aviation, regional transportation, and urban air mobility markets. The company’s novel electric propulsion powerplant will replace combustion-piston-driven engines in currently certified, experimental, and future aircraft as well as ground-based power systems.

For more information, visit https://hydroplane.us.