On Friday, Västerbotten County Governor Helene Hellmark Knutsson inaugurated Sweden's most powerful electricity supply for aviation at Skellefteå Airport. It is an important step in the journey towards commercial electric air traffic. Behind the initiative are Skellefteå Airport and Skellefteå Kraft. In connection with the inauguration, Sweden's northernmost flight to date was also made with an electric aircraft. "We want to be the airport of the future for electrified aviation. Initially, it will be about test operations for take-off, landing and charging in a realistic environment. In a few years' time, the goal is to be able to offer some of the first commercial electric flight routes in Europe," says Robert Lindberg, CEO of Skellefteå Airport.
Last year, an investment was made to enable charging of flying electrified vehicles. Now the connection is ready for use. The charging station enables 1 MW of available power for electric aviation, which is enough to fast-charge several smaller electric aircraft simultaneously.
With the infrastructure in place, Skellefteå is ready to take the next step in the development of electrified aviation. Part of this is the development program ELIS – Electrified Aviation in Skellefteå. It is a collaboration between Skellefteå Airport, Skellefteå Kraft, Northvolt, Skellefteå Science City and EIT InnoEnergy.
– Skellefteå is the right place for this initiative. We have an airport with available space, Skellefteå Kraft with research, development and production of renewable electricity and both Northvolt and EIT InnoEnergy in the region. In addition, from this autumn we will have climate-smart flight training in place through the Green Flight Academy, says Robert Lindberg.
With the extensive electrification that the world is facing, completely new opportunities are being created in aviation. Electric flight provides the opportunity to offer sustainable accessibility for both society, companies and private individuals, and in connection with Friday's inauguration, both aircraft and charging structure were displayed.
For more information
Robert Lindberg
CEO
Skelleftea Airport
+46 70 551 70 75
robert.lindberg@sft.se
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