In April 2024, Avinor and the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway entered a collaboration to establish Norway as an international test arena for zero- and low-emission aviation. Avinor’s role in this work is to facilitate the infrastructure at airports and in the airspace.
“Today, there are no chargers for aircraft at Avinor’s airports. The use of batteries as an energy carrier in aircraft is still a new technology, but there are many electric aircraft under development. Avinor expects that in the coming years, several rechargeable aircraft will be certified, increasing the need for charging infrastructure for aircraft,” says Anders Kirsebom, acting CEO of Avinor.
Testing at Stavanger Airport first
The test flights will be cargo flights without passengers, and flown with the ALIA aircraft from the American aircraft manufacturer BETA and flown by Bristow Norway. The flights will commence at Stavanger Airport, Sola, before flights between Sola and Bergen Airport, Flesland begin somewhat later.
At Stavanger Airport, a charger will be purchased for installation, while in Bergen, a mobile charging solution with a battery bank will be rented to charge electric aircraft at the airport during test operations in the fall and winter of 2025/2026.
Avinor expects to award the contracts during the first quarter of 2025, for delivery no later than June 1 in Stavanger and no later than August 15 in Bergen.
Seeking more Norwegian suppliers
Today, there are few available fast chargers for aircraft on the market. At the same time, Avinor will procure a charger with a CCS plug, which means that regular car chargers can technically and theoretically be used to charge aircraft.
However, it will require physical adaptations to car chargers to be able to charge aircraft, which have a completely different design than both passenger cars and heavy vehicles. For aviation, there are also strict requirements for distances between a moving aircraft and a charger. In the procurement, Avinor will require a continuous power output of at least 300 kW delivered to one aircraft. Currently, there is only one manufacturer that can offer a charger adapted to aircraft that meets this requirement.
“Avinor wants to involve the Norwegian supplier industry and get more charging players on board through the test arena project. The electrification of the car fleet in Norway has contributed to the design of many innovative solutions for charging various vehicles by Norwegian players. Avinor hopes to see the same innovative capability in this procurement and that we receive many offers, even though no one has a finished solution today,” says Kirsebom.