In situations where battery-powered drones are too heavy and have too short a range, drones that run on hydrogen can solve these problems.

Power outages are an example of how preparedness will be improved.

“If you need to find out if a tree has fallen onto a power line, you want to get out there as quickly as possible. Right now, you often have to use a helicopter,” says Federico Zenith, a senior research scientist at SINTEF.

If the weather conditions are bad, it can be a risky trip for the helicopter crew. Today’s drones cannot inspect power lines either, because their range is too short. A hydrogen drone, on the other hand, can be deployed immediately and help restore power more quickly. Emergency preparedness is important.

Search and rescue missions are another example of how drones can be used. They can also be used to map large areas, monitor snow cover to help with forecasts for floods or hydroelectric power, or monitor natural hazards like landslides and avalanches.

"We weren’t looking to replace battery-powered drones. They are practical for a lot of things. Our goal is to solve the tasks that today’s drones can’t handle.

The hydrogen and drone researchers at SINTEF have joined forces to build a hydrogen-powered drone.

“We weren’t looking to replace battery-powered drones. They are practical for a lot of things. Our goal is to solve the tasks that today’s drones can’t handle,” says Zenith.

"A fuel cell, on the other hand, will run for at least a thousand hours, and it’s easy to replace. It’s easy to convert battery drones to hydrogen.

Current regulations create some obstacles to developing drones that run on hydrogen. A separate approval is needed to convert drones and install a fuel cell with hydrogen. The process is easier, however, if you build the drone yourself, and that is what the researchers at SINTEF’s drone laboratory did.

“Our goal is to enable operations that today’s drones can’t handle because it’s too far for them to fly. Right now, you cannot fly a battery-powered drone to inspect a power line from transformer to transformer. But hydrogen makes this possible. The drone can fly for several hours – maybe even longer than the operator’s usual working hours,” says Zenith. “What’s more, it’s easy to change the tank on the drone if necessary.”

It has been several years since the first hydrogen-powered drone flew with Norwegian wings, but it never evolved into anything more than an experiment.

“The only hydrogen drone flying in Norway today is ours. As far as we know, it is the only one in Scandinavia, too,” says Zenith.

He says there is great interest in hydrogen drones.

“They are starting to take off,” he says with a smile. “The reason is that fuel cells are far cheaper than the helicopter alternative, even though a fuel cell is still expensive.

The SINTEF researcher points out that hydrogen is safer than gasoline when it comes to fuelling the drone. Gasoline-powered drones require a lot of maintenance and do not have a long lifespan. The engines require frequent replacement.

“A fuel cell, on the other hand, will run for at least a thousand hours, and it is easy to replace. It’s easy to convert battery drones to hydrogen. We used a heavy drone that we wanted to mount a fuel cell on, and it was a quick job,” says Zenith.

The next step is to prepare the hydrogen drone for Norwegian winter conditions.

“So far this has been a fairly small, internal project to get the drone in the air. That is the most important thing. But we need to gain more experience and see how many hours we can keep the drone flying in Norwegian conditions,” he says.

“The most important tasks remaining are weatherproofing and winterproofing the drone. The fuel cell that we have should in principle only be used when it’s not raining and when it’s above freezing. That means there aren’t many days they can be used here in Trøndelag county,” he says.

SINTEF hopes to embark on a new project to winterproof the hydrogen drone. “We are looking for funding and partners now,” says Zenith.