Rolls-Royce announced on Tuesday that its hybrid-electric propulsion system demonstrator has delivered more than a megawatt of power for the first time. According to the company, it is aiming to reach up to 2.5 megawatts with the Power Generation System 1 (PGS1) demonstrator as testing continues. PGS1 testing is taking place at the Rolls-Royce Testbed 108 facility in Bristol, U.K.
“We’ve made a tremendous start to testing—reaching a megawatt is a great achievement,” said Adam Newman, Rolls Royce Aviation Futures chief project engineer. “When future hybrid-electric aircraft opportunities emerge in the megawatt and above class we want to be as prepared as we can be to offer a ready-made solution.”
The PGS1 system includes an AE2100 engine, generator, specialist controls and a thermal management system. As previously reported by AVweb, the PGS1 generator was delivered to Testbed 108 last July following the completion of a development test program conducted at Rolls-Royce’s Trondheim, Norway, facility. The PGS1 program has been supported by the U.K. Aerospace Technology Institute’s MegaFlight project.
