LONDON, UK: AFC Energy plc, a leading provider of hydrogen powered generator technologies, and Speedy Hire Plc, the UK’s leading tools and equipment hire services company, announced the proposed launch of a dedicated hydrogen powered generator plant hire business.

This collaboration, which follows the successful launch of AFC Energy’s H-Power Generators last year, will provide the UK construction and temporary power market with AFC Energy’s sustainable, zero emission temporary power solutions designed specifically for the off-grid power market.

The collaboration will take the form initially of AFC Energy providing Speedy with its existing H-Power Tower Generators on a cross-hire basis on commercial terms.

It is the intention of Speedy and AFC Energy to form a 50:50 joint venture (“JV”), with detailed terms to be agreed between the parties.  The JV would provide a full-service hire model coordinating the generator equipment, maintenance, technical support, site preparation and fueling. It is proposed that the AFC Energy equipment will be available for hire exclusively from the JV through Speedy for an initial three-year period.

Once established, the JV will initially purchase 30kW H-Power Generators from AFC Energy for a consideration of c.£2m in aggregate.  The first of these systems are expected to be available later this year.  Beyond this initial commitment, Speedy and AFC Energy plan to increase orders for H-Power Generators in line with the expected growing demand for zero emission power across the UK construction and temporary power market.

The proposed collaboration aligns with Speedy’s new Velocity sustainable growth strategy launched earlier this month and builds on AFC Energy’s stated business model of selling H-Power Generators at volume into the plant hire sector.

Dan Evans, Chief Executive, Speedy, said: “As a leader in product innovation and sustainability across the sectors we serve, we are pleased to announce our proposed collaboration with hydrogen experts AFC Energy to deliver scalable, modular zero emission power generators to the UK market and further deliver on our ambitious targets in our Velocity sustainable growth strategy.”

Adam Bond, Chief Executive, AFC Energy, said: “The pressure to deliver zero emission power on construction sites here in the UK and overseas has seen strong growth in demand for AFC Energy’s H-Power Generators.  Our collaboration with Speedy builds on the successful H-Power Tower launch last year and subsequent field-based deployments, many of whom are customers of Speedy, making our proposed collaboration all the more relevant.”