HECATE – Technologies for the Future of Hybrid-Electric Aviation
Popular Science Overview
How can we reduce the environmental impact of aviation while maintaining safety, accessibility and competitiveness?
One of the most promising pathways is the electrification of aircraft propulsion. However, for hybrid-electric aircraft to become a viable reality, new technologies are needed to safely distribute, convert and manage large amounts of electrical power on board.
This was the challenge addressed by the European HECATE project – Hybrid ElectriC regional Aircraft distribution Technologies, carried out under the Clean Aviation programme. The project focused on developing a new generation of high-performance, high-voltage electrical power distribution systems for future regional hybrid-electric aircraft.
The project was completed in February 2026. One of its most important achievements was the successful integration and testing of a comprehensive high-voltage electrical architecture in a ground-based demonstrator. The technologies developed within HECATE reached Technology Readiness Level 5 (TRL 5), providing a solid foundation for further development and future demonstration on next-generation aircraft.
The Project Objective
The main objective of HECATE was to develop technologies capable of supporting a significant increase in the amount of electrical power used on board aircraft — moving from the hundreds-of-kilowatts range of today towards megawatt-level power systems for future aircraft.
The project addressed a broad range of technologies, including high-voltage power distribution, power converters, electrical protection systems, energy management, electromagnetic interference mitigation, and digital twins for system design and diagnostics.
The proposed architecture was based on three levels of electrical power distribution:
- KHVDC for propulsion systems,
- HVDC for high-power aircraft loads,
- LVDC for other on-board electrical systems.
All of these technologies had to meet demanding aviation requirements: they needed to be lightweight, safe, reliable and scalable, while remaining suitable for integration into future aircraft platforms.
The Project Partners
HECATE brought together a broad European consortium representing aircraft and aerospace system manufacturers, technology companies, research organisations and universities.
The project was coordinated by Collins Aerospace Ireland, with partners including Airbus Defence and Space, Safran, Thales, Fraunhofer, NLR, TECNALIA, the University of Nottingham, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, and Lodz University of Technology, among others.
The Role of Lodz University of Technology
Lodz University of Technology, represented by the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, was responsible for assessing the environmental performance of the technologies developed within HECATE using Life Cycle Assessment, or LCA.
The role of the LCA team was to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with the new systems and their components, identify the main sources of those impacts, and provide knowledge that could support the development of more sustainable solutions.
The LCA studies highlighted, among other aspects, the importance of material selection and energy-intensive manufacturing processes associated with advanced electrical components.
This meant that environmental performance was considered from the early stages of technology development, rather than being treated as an issue to address only once the design process was complete.
Expected Impact of the Project
The results of HECATE represent an important step towards a more electrified aviation sector.
The successful demonstration of a high-voltage electrical power distribution network, together with the achievement of TRL 5, demonstrated the feasibility of integrating several key technologies into a single system.
The modular nature of the HECATE solutions also means that they can potentially be adapted to different future aircraft platforms, supporting the continued development of hybrid-electric propulsion systems and future Clean Aviation demonstrators.
Ultimately, technologies developed within HECATE could contribute to reducing the environmental impact of future aviation by enabling increasingly electrified propulsion systems.
At the same time, the project demonstrated an important principle: electrification alone is not enough. New aviation technologies must also be assessed in terms of the environmental impacts associated with the production of their materials, components and systems.
This is where the Life Cycle Assessment work carried out by Lodz University of Technology played a particularly important role.
The next step will be to build on the results of HECATE through subsequent stages of the Clean Aviation programme, further developing and refining these technologies with the ultimate goal of supporting the next generation of aircraft, expected to enter service in the mid-2030s.