Megawatt hydrogen turboprop engine completes maiden flight in central China

A 7.5-tonne unmanned cargo aircraft powered by AEP100, China's independently developed megawatt-class hydrogen-fueled turboprop engine, completed its maiden flight on Saturday at an airport in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province.

This marks the world's first test flight of a megawatt-class hydrogen-fueled turboprop engine.

The engine operated normally and remained in good condition throughout the 16-minute test flight, according to the Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC), its developer. The aircraft covered 36 kilometers at 220 km/h, flying at an altitude of 300 meters. After completing all scheduled flight maneuvers, it returned safely.

Experts from the AECC noted that the successful maiden flight highlights that China has now established a complete technological chain in hydrogen-fueled aviation engines, covering everything from core components to full engine integration. They added that this achievement lays the foundation for the industrial application of hydrogen energy in aviation.

As green hydrogen production costs fall, hydrogen aviation engines will show growing economic and energy security advantages, experts said. Hydrogen-fueled aero-engine technology is expected to debut in low-altitude economy fields such as unmanned air freight and island logistics, before gradually expanding to regional and mainline aircraft.

This technology will drive coordinated upgrades across industrial clusters, including upstream green hydrogen production, midstream storage, transportation and refueling infrastructure, and downstream high-end equipment and new materials. Ultimately, it will propel the green, low-carbon, and high-quality development of China's aviation industry, experts added.