Inside Chelveston: bringing aviation back after 84 years
David Dabbs, Test Capability Manager at Intelligent Energy, shares an update on the latest progress at our fuel cell test facility, based at Chelveston Renewable Energy Park and designed to accelerate the development of next‑generation hydrogen power systems.
There’s a moment in any build when it stops feeling like a plan and starts feeling like a place. That’s where we are now with Intelligent Energy’s new fuel cell test facility at Chelveston.
For several years, our plans have been theoretical, starting with a concept, a sequence of drawings, delivery slots and installation plans. Now it’s starting to look like what it’s meant to be: a world class research hub where our engineers can run serious test programmes day in, day out.
February 2026 was a milestone for me personally. Enapter’s AEM electrolyser was delivered – the final major component we needed before bringing the site’s energy system to life.
When developing a test facility, it is important to understand the engineering team’s priorities and needs, then relay the relevant information to the various trades involved. Small details can make a big difference in test efficiency, repeatability and the ease of technical investigation. For Intelligent Energy, it marks an important step: a second UK facility that adds testing capability alongside our headquarters in Loughborough.
Chelveston also has a history that gives the project an extra edge. Aviation innovation is not new here; our facility has been built on the footprint of the former RAF Chelveston airfield.
In 1942, Chelveston hosted the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment, where engineers and military teams tested ideas well outside the mainstream. Projects such as the Hafner Rotachute and the Rotabuggy tackled a practical question: how do you move people and equipment through the air safely and quickly when conventional options do not fit the brief?
Eighty-four years later, the question is different, but the mindset is familiar. Chelveston is again a place for innovation, testing and validation – only now the aim is zero-emission flight. We’re developing fuel cell systems that can cut emissions without sacrificing what airlines and aviation OEMs need: range, weight, efficiency and reliability.
Why Chelveston matters to our work
Chelveston has been designed around a specific need: testing and validation of high-power fuel cell systems for aviation and other demanding applications including scalable stationary power for data centres. The site covers 1,100 square metres and sits within the 750-acre Chelveston Renewable Energy Park in Northamptonshire.
What makes the location unique is its energy set-up, with wind turbines and solar arrays generating an abundance of clean power on site. We convert that electricity into hydrogen using the electrolyser, store it, then use it to power our fuel cell testing. It’s a UK-first co-located system that turns intermittent renewables into power we can use when needed.
That means we can run test campaigns without relying on cylinder or bulk hydrogen deliveries. Instead, we have a self-contained facility which will produce hydrogen, store it and deliver it into our fuel cells. Furthermore, the power we generate through testing of our fuel cells will be fed back into the renewable park’s power infrastructure for use onsite or export to the national grid.
The link to HEIGHTS and hydrogen flight
Chelveston is coming online at the right moment. Intelligent Energy is in the first year of the three-year, government-backed HEIGHTS programme to develop IE-FLIGHT™ 300 – a modular 300kW aviation fuel cell platform for eVTOL and commuter aircraft.
Thermal management is a core aviation challenge: fuel cells must stay at the right temperature without adding mass or drag. Our patented cooling system uses water vapour rather than high-flow liquid circuits, enabling a smaller, lighter system with around 90% less coolant mass than conventional liquid designs.
Chelveston is where we can validate these systems at full scale using locally produced green hydrogen. Moving towards certified, flight-ready systems requires repeatable testing under controlled conditions.
It also comes down to pace. Loughborough remains our engineering base. Chelveston adds capacity – another place where we can build, test and learn quickly without competing for time on existing facilities.
A practical demonstration of hydrogen’s wider role
Another reason I admire the Chelveston set-up is that it highlights something important about the energy system emerging around hydrogen.
The UK increasingly faces renewable curtailment: paying to switch off wind farms when the grid cannot absorb the power. In 2025, those payments exceeded £1 billion. Chelveston shows an alternative: capture renewable electricity as hydrogen, store it, and use it when needed.
We’re doing this because it supports our testing work, but it also shows what a more flexible energy system might look like. Turning surplus renewable generation into a useful, storable fuel reduces waste and strengthens energy security.
The next few months are all about commissioning – when a project stops being “installed” and becomes operational.
For me, Chelveston will feel complete on the first ordinary day when hydrogen production is routine, the test programme is running, and engineers are pouring over the data. That’s when the value shows up: a reliable, technically leading test capability that helps our engineers move faster – and helps turn aviation fuel cell development into flight-ready systems.
Want to find out more about our test facility? Get in touch or visit our Chelveston web page here.