Honda Aircraft Co. begins deliveries of HondaJet Elite to China

The composite fuselage aircraft model, introduced in 2018, received Chinese type certification in August of this year.

Honda Aircraft Co. (Greensboro, N.C., U.S.) reported on Dec. 10 that it has begun deliveries of the HondaJet Elite composite fuselage aircraft, which was first introduced in 2018, to China. This first HondaJet Elite was delivered from Honda Aircraft Co.’s world headquarters in Greensboro to its exclusive dealer in China, Honsan General Aviation Co. Ltd.

The first delivery to China comes after receiving Chinese type certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in August 2019, demonstrating that the aircraft meets the organization’s safety standards (The HondaJet received U.S. FAA certification in 2016).

To support HondaJet customers in China, Honsan General Aviation Co. Ltd. will provide sales and service at the business jet terminal in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, China. This first HondaJet delivery to China is being financed by Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co. Ltd., a global leasing company based in Japan.

“Delivering the first HondaJet to China is a significant milestone for Honda Aircraft,” says Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft Co. president and CEO. “We will continue to showcase the many benefits of very light jet travel with the HondaJet Elite. We will provide Chinese customers with exceptional performance, efficiency, and comfort on their travels and will add value to the general aviation industry in China and eventually revolutionize it.” 

“The first delivery of the HondaJet Elite to Honsan marks a significant step for HondaJets entering the Chinese market. ... We are eager to develop the very light jet market in China with the HondaJet and its superior performance,” says Dr. Cheng Qian, CEO of Honsan General Aviation Co. Ltd. 

Honda Aircraft Co.’s sales and service footprint spans North America, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, India and Japan. The HondaJet fleet is currently comprised of around 140 aircraft around the globe and was the most delivered light jet in its class for 2017 and 2018.

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450-MW Texas wind farm goes online, to expand to 500 MW in 2020

The High Lonesome wind farm, operated by Enel Green Power North America Ltd., plans to add an additional 50 MW of capacity in early 2020.

A 450-megawatt wind farm recently began operations in the U.S. state of Texas, as reported on Dec. 23 by ​​​​​​​Enel (Rome, Italy and Boston, Mass., U.S.) and its U.S. renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power North America Inc. (EGPNA). The company says that the High Lonesome wind farm is the largest operational wind project in the group’s global renewable portfolio.

Enel also signed a 12-year, renewable energy power purchase agreement (PPA) with food and beverage company Danone North America, a Public Benefit Corp. (White Plains, N.Y., U.S.) for physical delivery of the renewable electricity associated with 20.6 megawatts, leading to an additional 50 megawatts expansion of High Lonesome that will increase the plant’s total capacity to 500 megawatts. The construction of the 50-megawatt expansion is currently underway and operations are due to start in the first quarter of 2020.

The investment in the construction of the 500-megawatt plant amounts to around $720 million. The wind farm is due to generate around 1.9 Terawatt-hours annually, while avoiding the emission of more than 1.2 million tons of CO₂ per year.

In addition, the energy produced by a 295-megawatt portion of the project will be hedged under a Proxy Revenue Swap (PRS) with insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Inc.'s Alternative Risk Transfer unit (Allianz), and Nephila Climate, a provider of weather and climate risk management products. The PRS is a financial derivative agreement designed to produce stable revenues for the project regardless of power price fluctuations and weather-driven intermittency, hedging the project from this kind of risk in addition to that associated with price and volume.

Under the PRS agreement, High Lonesome will receive fixed payments based on the expected value of future energy production, with adjustments paid depending on how the realized proxy revenue of the project differs from the fixed payment. The PRS for High Lonesome, which is the largest by capacity for a single plant globally and the first agreement of its kind for Enel, was executed in collaboration with REsurety Inc.

“The start of operations of Enel’s largest wind farm in the world marks a significant achievement for our company and reinforces our global commitment to accelerated renewable energy growth,” says Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of Enel Green Power. “This milestone is matched with a new partnership with Danone North America to support their renewable goals, a reinforcement of our continued commitment to provide customers with tailored solutions to meet their sustainability goals.”

“This is an exciting and significant step as we continue to advance our 2030 renewable electricity goals. … We’re delighted to be working with Enel Green Power to expand their High Lonesome wind farm and grow the renewable electricity infrastructure here in the U.S.,” says Mariano Lozano, president and CEO of Danone North America.

In Texas, Enel also currently operates the 63-megawatt Snyder wind farm, located in Scurry County.

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Gurit signs long term core material supply agreement with Chinese wind turbine blade OEM

The three-year contract is a continuation of an existing business relationship for the supply of core materials.

Gurit Services AG (Zurich, Switzerland) has announced that it has secured a supply contract for core materials with a Chinese wind turbine blade producer supplying international and domestic OEMs. 

The three-year contract covers the years 2020 – 2022 and is a continuation of an existing business relationship for the supply of core materials. It is expected to deliver Net Sales of CHF 25 million over the contract period, half of which will be for PET core material.

“This is another milestone of achieving a long-term supply agreement with a leading blade producer in China, the world’s largest wind energy market.” says Rudolf Hadorn, CEO of Gurit.

Gurit plans to increase its PET extrusion capacities in 2020 at the existing extrusion sites in Tianjin, China as well as in Matamoros, Mexico.

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Aerojet Rocketdyne to provide propulsion for Orion spacecraft fleet

In a recent contract with Lockheed Martin, Aerojet Rocketdyne engines and other products will be used on NASA’s Orion spacecraft for three Artemis missions.

Aerojet Rocketdyne (Sacramento, Calif., U.S.) was recently awarded a contract by Lockheed Martin (Littleton, Colo., U.S.) to support production of NASA’s Orion spacecraft fleet for Artemis missions three through five, with an option to support missions six through eight with three additional shipsets.

The contract for three shipsets of propulsion elements will be managed and performed out of the company’s facility in Redmond, Washington. Work will also be conducted at Aerojet Rocketdyne facilities in Huntsville, Alabama, and Orange County, Virginia.

According to the company, Orion’s propulsion system includes the following Aerojet Rocketdyne products:

• Orion Main Engine: Mounted on the spacecraft’s European Service Module (ESM), the 6,000-pound thrust main engine will provide the primary propulsion for Orion’s major in-space maneuvers. Aerojet Rocketdyne is refurbishing the bipropellant orbital maneuvering engine’s valves in support of NASA’s effort to reuse engines from the space shuttle program.
• Auxiliary Engines: Also mounted on the ESM, eight 110-pound thrust bipropellant engines based on the flight-proven R-4D engine family, will maintain Orion’s in-space trajectory and position. They also will provide backup to the main engine.
• Launch Abort System (LAS) Jettison Motor: The jettison motor provides approximately 40,000 pounds of thrust to separate the LAS from the crew module in the event of a launch anomaly, enabling the spacecraft and crew to safely land with parachute assistance. The motor also fires during a nominal mission, separating the LAS from the spacecraft, to enable the crewmembers to continue on their journey.
• Reaction Control System (RCS): The RCS is comprised of 12 160-pound-thrust MR-104J monopropellant thrusters mounted in 10 pod assemblies. At the conclusion of Artemis missions, the Crew Module will separate from the ESM prior to re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. After this point, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s RCS thrusters are the sole means for controlling the spacecraft’s orientation during atmospheric reentry and altering its course in preparation for splashdown.

“We have been a part of every crewed mission launched from U.S. soil and are very proud to continue supporting the future of human space exploration,” says Ken Young, general manager of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Redmond operations.

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Dassault Systèmes, Rize Inc. partner to provide composite 3D printing solutions

Customers will be able to integrate Rize 3D printing technology with Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE software platform.

Software provider Dassault Systèmes (Waltham, Mass., U.S.) has partnered with additive manufacturing company Rize Inc. (Concord, Mass., U.S.) to enable integration of Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE software platform with Rize 3D printing technology. 

According to Rize, this software/hardware combination will enable users to easily design and print full-color 3D functional prototypes, production tooling and end-use parts using industry standard software. 

Through the joint offering, designers will be able to integrate UL GREENGUARD 2904 certified Rize 3D printing solutions within their engineering workflows to accelerate design verification. Manufacturing users can produce carbon fiber composite parts that require high stiffness and strength for functional applications in custom tools, jigs and fixtures.

The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University (Wichita, Kan., U.S.) is a Dassault Systèmes customer utilizing the new partnership. “NIAR-WSU is at the forefront of innovation in additive manufacturing, and we have built the first Smart Space on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, combining additive manufacturing and AR/VR applications from Dassault Systèmes, Rize full color and composite 3D printing systems and the NIAR additive consulting and training expertise,” says Shawn Ehrstein, director of emerging technologies and CAD/CAM at NIAR. “We believe this will deliver smarter workflows in engineering and manufacturing and the adoption of Industry 4.0 methodologies. As a Dassault Systèmes customer, we believe this solution delivers accelerated time to value to the industry.”

“Our customers are focused on using additive manufacturing and are looking for ways to accelerate the business value. The combination of Rize’s Smart Spaces and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides a strong package to help customers better realize the value of this transformative technology,” says Noam Ktalav, director of partner excellence and global value solutions at Dassault Systèmes.

“Dassault Systèmes is our trusted strategic partner and we are delighted to serve its customers through a unique set of offerings from Rize’s Smart Spaces program, which will enable them to get higher value from their existing investments, and leverage the industry’s latest advances in productivity and safety,” says Andy Kalambi, president and CEO of Rize. “At the same time, RIZE customers will enjoy new benefits leveraging Dassault Systèmes applications along with Smart Spaces as well. It’s a win-win for all.”