Skellefteå's ELIS program – an emerging center for the development and commercialization of electric aviation – offers the space and expertise needed to test, develop and certify vehicles, components and supporting infrastructure under real-world conditions.
On September 20-22, a number of non-visual line-of-sight flights were conducted between Skellefteå Airport and Northvolt’s gigafactory 13 kilometers away. The flights were conducted during regular scheduled and non-scheduled flights at the airport and in the airspace. The vehicle, a large-wing drone from the Swedish company Katla Aero, had a wingspan of 2.5 meters.
Aviation test track
The flights are part of the Test track for eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) project, which is co-financed by the Swedish Energy Agency. The project aims not only to pave the way for a test site for eVTOLs, but also to investigate and learn more about the factors that must be in place for commercial eVTOL operations to become a reality. The project consists of four work packages – ground infrastructure, business models, electromagnetic interference, and airspace and permits. Partners include ACR, Luleå University of Technology, Skellefteå Kraft, Northvolt, Skellefteå Science City and Skellefteå Airport.
“By planning and executing these flights, we gathered knowledge that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. This once again shows the value of doing things for real and is a small but important step on the road to passenger flights with eVTOL. There are definitely challenges ahead, and some of them have been highlighted through these test flights. One is the integration with other air traffic and permit processes that need to be streamlined,” says Robert Lindberg, CEO of Skellefteå Airport.
To learn more and push the boundaries, different take-off and landing procedures were tested, as well as flights at different altitudes and speeds. The flights also simulated future passenger traffic. On September 22, a demonstration flight from Skellefteå Airport delivered aluminum cans for batteries to Northvolt in 7 minutes, compared to 30 minutes for ground deliveries. The highest altitude was 120 meters, with a total energy consumption of 0.34 kWh.
-By showing how quickly, efficiently and sustainably we can fly goods, and in the not too distant future also passengers, we hope that more stakeholders will see the opportunities here and develop potential business ideas, says Sanna Bäckström, communications assistant at Northvolt.
Results
Important results from the test flights include: determining flight corridors, handling eVTOL together with regular passenger flights, optimal flight patterns, ground infrastructure needs, ways to communicate with air traffic control and much more.
“A whole ecosystem needs to work together for this to scale up to commercial operations. Development of infrastructure for take-off and landing, electricity and charging supply, airspace use, passenger handling, safety and security, maintenance and repair, pilot training, integration with ground transportation and much more. These test flights gave us even more information about all the stakeholders that need to be involved for this to work,” says Henrik Littorin, Program Manager for ELIS.
Unique conditions
Skellefteå Airport, together with the power company Skellefteå Kraft, has installed a 1 MW power supply designed for electric aircraft and eVTOLs and is developing a leading testbed for electric aviation. This is based on Skellefteå's unique conditions for testing in cold, dark and windy conditions, with access to green and affordable electricity, a free airspace and broad expertise in energy, electricity and battery development.
Contact details:
Robert Lindberg
CEO Skellefteå Airport
robert.lindberg@sft.se
+46 705517075
Henrik Littorin
Program Manager, ELIS
henrik.littorin@sft.se
+46 734331998
Annelie Viksten
Project Manager, Skellefteå Science City
annelie@skellefteasciencecity.se
+46 738225826
English 
Swedish 