Rolls-Royce tests 2.5MW generator

Rolls-Royce has delivered a 2.5-megawatt electrical generator to its newly renovated Testbed 108 facility in Bristol, the UK for final testing and integration into the world's most powerful hybrid electric aerospace propulsion system.

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To deliver net-zero compatible operations by 2050, the company is looking at hybrid-electric propulsion systems. The 2.5 MW generator is part of the bigger plan to make aircraft engines easy to operate and maintain while also being greener. Electric aircraft propulsion has made impressive strides over the past few years, but projects have tended to start small and work their way up in size. However, Siemens, Rolls-Royce, and Airbus took a different approach with their E-Fan X demonstrator program, which was completed earlier this year and was developing a large regional aircraft powered by a hybrid system that uses an AE2100 turboshaft engine to turn a generator that supplies electricity to a set of electric fan motors.