Rolls-Royce Selected to Lead EU Clean Aviation ELEVATED Project on Hybrid-Electric Propulsion
Why It MattersThe project signals continued EU-industry co-funding of hybrid-electric propulsion research aimed at future short- and medium-range aircraft efficiency gains ahead of UltraFan certification milestones.
Rolls-Royce has been selected by the European Union's Clean Aviation programme to lead the ELEVATED project, which will demonstrate a hybrid-electric gas-turbine propulsion system for future ultra-efficient short- to medium-range aircraft. ELEVATED is one of 19 projects announced under Clean Aviation Call 4, which will share up to €290 million in EU funding as part of a total public and private investment of €664 million; other projects in the call cover hydrogen-powered and ultra-efficient regional aircraft architectures.
The ELEVATED consortium is led by Rolls-Royce Deutschland and includes industry, academic and research partners from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom, spanning hybridisation, electrification, engine integration, electrical machines and drives, powerplant integration, high-voltage harnesses, aircraft integration and modelling. Subject to successful grant preparation, the project will embed a hybrid-electric subsystem into a donor engine for integration, control and testing, targeting at least a 20% reduction in aircraft-level CO2 emissions.
ELEVATED will also assess the potential impact of hybrid-electric elements on the UltraFan 30 technology demonstrator, described as a step toward Technology Readiness Level 6, with UltraFan 30 ground testing planned for 2028. Alan Newby, Rolls-Royce's Director of Research & Technology, said the project would generate data to validate modelling and inform technology selection, product development, certification planning and industrialisation, and would work alongside the ongoing UNIFIED project to help validate future UltraFan capability. Rolls-Royce will also participate in two further Call 4 projects, FARMAN and H-ELENA, both focused on hydrogen technologies.
The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking is a public-private partnership between the European Commission through Horizon Europe and the European aeronautics industry, with a total budget of €4.1 billion comprising €1.7 billion in EU funding and at least €2.4 billion in private funding, targeting a reduction in the emission footprint of short- to medium-range and regional aircraft of no less than 30% compared with 2020 state-of-the-art aircraft.
