The Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) has forged a strategic alliance with Airbus to develop cutting-edge hydrogen technologies that could reshape the future of air travel.

At the heart of the partnership are solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), a high-efficiency technology capable of generating energy from hydrogen while dramatically cutting CO₂ emissions, one of aviation’s key priorities. The collaboration will combine IREC’s deep expertise in advanced materials and electrochemical systems from the Nanoionics and Fuel Cells Department with Airbus’ track record in aerospace innovation, with the shared goal of designing next-generation propulsion systems, and ultimately bringing fully electric commercial flights closer to reality.

“Fuel cell development represents a genuine opportunity to decarbonise sectors like aviation,” said Dr. Albert Tarancón, ICREA professor at IREC. “This collaboration allows us to push toward technologies that could have a global impact on the energy transition“.

A strategic win for European industry

The initiative strengthens Europe’s competitive edge in the global race to lead more sustainable technology developments and the new hydrogen economy. Collaboration between research centres and industrial companies is key to accelerating innovation, generating new value chains and consolidating a competitive industrial network in strategic sectors such as aviation and energy.

A new energy paradigm is shaping

The implications stretch well beyond the aviation sector. The technologies being developed point toward a broader shift in the global energy system, one in which hydrogen becomes a cornerstone vector for electrifying and decarbonising activities that have so far proved hardest to transform.  

With this agreement, IREC reinforces its position in the European energy research landscape and contributes to placing Catalonia at the forefront of the technologies that will define the mobility of the future.