Rolls-Royce is to close its electrical business having failed to find a buyer for the fledgling unit.
Chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic announced in November last year that the UK-headquartered firm was looking to divest Rolls-Royce Electrical, part of a series of disposals of non-core operations.
But despite suggestions early in the process that a sale was imminent, no transaction ever materialised.
Now Roll-Royce is moving to close the business, FlightGlobal understands, confirming reports first published by Aviation Week.
However, precisely what is being axed at this stage is unclear, save for the fact that Rolls-Royce is exiting the advanced air mobility (AAM) business.
That includes the products it was developing for urban and regional air mobility applications, such as electric propulsion units – rated at 150kW and 320kW – and a turbogenerator built around a clean-sheet gas turbine.
First run in 2023, the 1,070shp (800kW)-class engine was also seen as having potential applications beyond AAM in the helicopter, defence and auxiliary power unit markets.
Rolls-Royce Electrical was created as a stand-alone business unit in 2022, building on the growth seen since the company’s acquisition of the aviation assets of Siemens in 2018.
Activities were carried out at sites in Germany, Hungary, Norway and the UK.
Nonetheless, Rolls-Royce is retaining its electrical and hybrid engineering capabilities in its core civil aerospace, defence and power systems business units, FlightGlobal understands.
Retaining that capability is seen as critical to address future power and propulsion requirements. For example, in the defence sector, next-generation combat aircraft are likely to require higher levels of electrical generation for increasingly power-hungry sensors and weapons.
In the civil space, Rolls-Royce sees potential to add motor-generators to existing turbofan architectures – including to its UltraFan engine – to help meet fuel-burn and emissions-reduction goals.
It is leading several projects funded by the EU’s Clean Aviation organisation where electrification is a key objective. These will continue despite the closure of Rolls-Royce Electrical.
