From a contribution by National Program Groningen (NPG), a hydrogen drone was purchased by Drone Delivery Services (DDS) in collaboration with Hive.Mobility and the Province of Groningen, at HyFly. This was announced at the New Energy Forum, an event dedicated to breaking down the barriers of the energy and mobility transition.
Autonomous flying
Drone Delivery Services is a startup that believes in a sustainable society in which the airspace is used appropriately for fast, reliable and safe delivery of essential products for everyone. DDS provides unmanned logistics services by air.
Egbert Swierts, Drone Delivery Services: “The hydrogen drone that has been purchased is the very first hydrogen drone developed and built by the manufacturer HyFly from the Northern Netherlands. A hydrogen drone has never been used in Europe for the sustainable transport of medical goods. Drone Delivery Services has the ambition to be the first to make this possible”.
Sustainable innovation
Just like DDS, startup HyFly from Drachten aims at a sustainable society by offering hybrid drones that can take off and land vertically and that fly like a normal aircraft. Devices that can fly on green hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuel powered aircraft and helicopters.
Pieter Lantermans, HyFly: “As a drone manufacturer in the Northern Netherlands, we are very proud to be able to offer our first hydrogen drone to a regional customer. We see this as the first step in a sustainable collaboration.”
Collaboration
Ilse Mensink, Hive.Mobility program manager: “A large network of partners in the Northern Netherlands is working together within Hive.Mobility on the transition to a more sustainable and smarter mobility of goods and people. Together we join forces and share knowledge and expertise. The development that is taking place with the hydrogen drone is a good example of this and we support it wholeheartedly.”
The province of Groningen, together with the provinces of Drenthe and Fryslân, has a program in which autonomous transport is central, under the name @North. In addition to testing on water, road and rail, autonomous flying is also being done. Within this program, DDS will focus in the coming years on testing and validating autonomous flight techniques. This concerns innovative solutions such as the smart and sustainable transport of medical goods or emergency packages with drones. This program looks at routes in rural areas in the provinces and possibly to the Wadden Islands.
This project was made possible thanks to a contribution of National Program Groningen.
