Rolls-Royce takes majority holding in power storage specialist Qinous

press release

Rolls-Royce will hold a 73.1% majority stake in Berlin-based electricity storage specialist Qinous GmbH from 15 January 2020. The Group is acquiring the shareholdings of all other current financial investors, including that of investment holdings company IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (Berlin). The founding shareholders will continue to hold shares in the company and will retain their current roles in the business. It has been agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price or the other departing shareholders.

Rolls-Royce had already acquired a 19.9% stake in the former start-up back in October 2018. The company is involved in battery storage systems and associated control systems, and has already implemented storage solutions around the world.

"Our new subsidiary is to play a pivotal role going forward," said Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems Division. "This is where we are going to pool all the division's microgrid activities – from simple storage solutions to complete, complex microgrid solutions of various sizes and configurations. As a young, start-up-style company, Qinous brings expertise that is an ideal complement to Rolls-Royce's industrial credentials. Together we will be able to respond quickly and with great professionalism to the demands of the market," he continued.

The joint development work on a range of storage solutions in recent months has shown that the two companies are an excellent fit and, as Schell explained, "that we can achieve new market potential by integrating more closely. We see great market potential for sustainable power supplies, especially for distributed, environmentally-friendly MTU microgrid solutions."

"Taking a majority holding in Qinous is a major step forward as we transform into a provider of integrated solutions for our customers. In future, we will be able to offer not just the technical solution and associated service offerings, but the finance too," said Schell. Qinous has made a name for itself with modular, scalable, prefabricated plug-and-play battery products that combine renewable energy sources, power generators and battery storage technology. Rolls-Royce is a specialist in customized energy solutions with the worldwide sales and service network of its product and solution brand MTU.

"This even closer partnership between Rolls-Royce and Qinous is a logical and consistent step towards opening up the rapidly growing microgrid market. The functionality and reliability of the solutions have been proven in a large number of projects. Now, with MTU's experience and global presence, we can meet demand more quickly and more comprehensively," said Steffen Heinrich, co-founder and co-managing director of Qinous. "Also on behalf of co-managing director Reinhard Edelmann and co-founder Busso von Bismarck, I want to thank the seedcorn investors who made it possible to set Qinous up as a company, and who have supported us actively right through to the present day."

Sabine Wolff, Investment Manager at IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft commented: "We are delighted to have found an internationally renowned partner for Qinous in the form of Rolls-Royce. The combination of renewable energies and storage solutions, which are already being used successfully in on-grid and off-grid applications and to safeguard grid stability, will also find further areas of application in tomorrow's microgrid markets. The partnership between Rolls-Royce and Qinous has become a success story for the Berlin operation, and presents us with an attractive exit opportunity."

The modular component system of the coordinated Qinous/MTU product range will in future allow the configuration of solutions from 30 kW/30kWh to several megawatts. "The range of services and deliverables covers the needs of commercial enterprises, municipal utilities, energy suppliers, and even sizeable industrial plants. Together with Qinous, we can offer customers a wide range of microgrid solutions consisting of different combinations of power generation and storage systems. In this way we will ensure sustainable, cost-optimized and – above all – climate-friendly power supplies, whether connected to the public grid or independent of it," said Cordelia Thielitz, Vice President of Rolls-Royce's Microgrid Solutions business. "The key to this is the comprehensive expertise in storage technology, the efficient integration of microgrid components and the development of intelligent control systems," she emphasized.

Qinous employs around 40 people in Berlin. Rolls-Royce is engaged in research and development of microgrids and power generators at four locations: Friedrichshafen, Ruhstorf, Augsburg and Mankato (US).

Boeing CEO Statement on US-China Trade Deal

press release

oeing (NYSE: BA) President and CEO Dave Calhoun issued the following statement regarding the announcement today of a US-China trade deal:

Boeing has a long-standing partnership with China that spans nearly 50 years. We're proud that Boeing airplanes will continue to be a part of this valued relationship, one that has fueled aerospace innovation and sustained manufacturing jobs.

Boeing applauds Presidents Trump and Xi as well as Vice Premier Liu, Secretary Mnuchin and Ambassador Lighthizer for their leadership in building a fair and mutually-beneficial trading relationship between the United States and China.


CALC signs purchase agreement for 40 additional A321neo aircraft

press release

CALC (China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited), a full value-chain aircraft solutions provider for global airlines, has reached an agreement with Airbus on its remaining backlog, and includes an additional order for 40 A321neo aircraft. It also includes a conversion of 15 of its existing A320neo backlog into A321neos. Together with a previous order for 11 A321neos, CALC's total order for the type rises to 66.

CALC's order is an endorsement for the A321neo and reaffirms the market demand for the aircraft.  With unbeatable fuel efficiency and lowest operating costs, it is the best match for CALC's customers. To date, from CALC's total order for 252 A320 Family aircraft, 87 have been delivered, of which one is an A321neo.

The A321neo is the largest member of the A320 Family, seating up to 240 passengers, depending on cabin configuration. Incorporating the latest engines, aerodynamic advances, and cabin innovations, the A321neo offers a reduction in fuel consumption of 20% as well as a 50% noise reduction. To date, the A320 Family has won more than 15,300 orders and more than 9,000 aircraft have been delivered worldwide.


Dynetics’ X-61A Gremlins airborne launchable air vehicle performs its maiden flight


Dynetics, the performer for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Gremlins program, has successfully flown its X-61A Gremlins Air Vehicle (GAV) for the first time in November 2019.

The test took place at Dugway Proving Ground near Salt Lake City, Utah. Testing operations involved one captive-carry mission aboard a TBM, Inc. C-130A and an airborne launch and free flight of the X-61A that lasted one hour and 41 minutes. The test objectives included:

·      Demonstrating a successful launch of the GAV from the C-130

·      Demonstrating a rate capture, wing deployment, cold engine start, and transition to stable, powered flight

·      Collecting data on GAV subsystem operation and performance

·      Verifying air and ground-based command and control systems, including data link performance and handovers between air and ground control

·      Deploying the GAV docking arm

·      Demonstrating the flight termination and ground (parachute) recovery of the GAV (demonstration system only - not part of the operational system)

The X-61A flew as predicted with no anomalies, achieving all test objectives that relate to the operational system. At the end of the mission, the engine was shut down and a drogue chute successfully deployed to terminate flight. Unfortunately, the vehicle was lost during the ground recovery sequence due to a failure to extract the main chute.

Managed out of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office (TTO), the overarching goal of Gremlins is to accelerate the ability to perform aerial launch and recovery of volley quantities of low-cost, reusable unmanned aerial systems (UASs). This test is the next step toward the completion of the program's Phase 3 demonstration objectives, which include a final flight test to demonstrate the ability to recover four GAVs in under 30 minutes.

 "This flight marks a historic milestone for Dynetics and the Gremlins program," said Tim Keeter, Dynetics Gremlins program manager. "The GAV flew beautifully and our command and control system kept us in total control of the GAV for the entire flight. The loss of our vehicle validates our decision to build five GAVs for Phase 3; we still have four remaining. Overall, I am proud to see all the hard work pay off and we are excited to continue this momentum towards the first airborne recovery in early 2020."

The Gremlins team celebrated a number of milestones in 2019 including a successful flight test of the docking system in February. In March, they executed the first flight of the GAV avionics system, installed onboard the Calspan Variable Stability System (VSS) Lear Jet as a dress rehearsal for this November 2019 test. Dynetics also hosted a stakeholder's day highlighting a live engine test in July and received a U.S. Air Force-assigned X-61A designation in August.

The Dynetics team was one of four companies awarded Phase 1 in 2016. Phase 2 was awarded in March 2017 to two of those four performers, and Phase 3 followed in April 2018, naming Dynetics the top performer.

"This flight test validates all the engineering design work, analysis, and ground testing we have performed in the past two and a half years," Brandon Hiller, chief engineer for the X-61A said. "We have a lot of confidence in the vehicle's performance and overall design going forward, and the telemetry data from the flight compares exceptionally well to our modeling predictions. Our team has done a superb job to achieve first flight of this unique aircraft in such a short amount of time, and we are eager to get this new capability into the hands of the DoD."

The Dynetics Gremlins team consists of companies that represent best-in-class capabilities for their roles on the program - Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems, Williams International, Applied Systems Engineering, Inc., Kutta Technologies, Inc., Moog Inc., Sierra Nevada Corporation, Systima Technologies, Inc., and Airborne Systems.

 
https://youtu.be/P3DncMeGqTg