AFC Energy inks joint venture with Speedy Hire

Hydrogen generator technology company AFC Energy announced on Friday that it has joined forces with Speedy Hire to introduce a dedicated hydrogen-powered generator plant hire business.

The AIM-traded firm said that following the successful launch of its H-Power Generators last year, the collaboration aimed to cater to the UK construction and temporary power market, offering sustainable, zero-emission temporary power solutions designed specifically for off-grid applications.

Initially, the collaboration would involve AFC Energy providing Speedy with its existing H-Power Tower Generators on a cross-hire basis, operating on mutually beneficial commercial terms.

The two companies planned to establish a 50-50 joint venture with detailed terms yet to be finalised between the parties.

AFC said the proposed joint venture would offer a comprehensive hire model that includes generator equipment, maintenance, technical support, site preparation, and fuelling.

For an initial three-year period, the AFC Energy equipment would be exclusively available for hire through Speedy.

The firm said the joint venture’s early phase would commence with the acquisition of 30kW H-Power Generators from AFC Energy for an aggregate consideration of about £2m.

It said the systems were expected to become available later in the year.

Subsequently, Speedy and AFC Energy had outlined plans to increase orders for H-Power Generators in response to an anticipated surge in demand for zero-emission power solutions within the UK construction and temporary power sector.

“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,” said chief executive officer Adam Bond.

“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.”

At 0954 BST, shares in AFC Energy were up 21.59% at 17.85p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.