Speedy Hire agrees deal to create hydrogen-powered access platform

Speedy Hire partners with Niftylift to create the first hydrogen-powered aerial work platform as an alternative to diesel machines

  • Speedy Hire: Platforms are ‘first viable alternative’ to diesel powered equipment
  • Niftylift will also provide Speedy Hire with zero-emission lifts as part of the deal

Speedy Hire has partnered with Niftylift to develop the world’s first hydrogen-electric boom lift in the world.

The rental company said the deal will help infrastructure, construction and other related industries move closer to achieving net-zero emissions while remaining “commercially sustainable.”

Under the three-year agreement, Niftylift will supply Speedy Hire exclusively with zero-emission lifts, as well as some hybrid-powered aerial work platforms, designed and built at its Milton Keynes facility.

Partnership:: Under the three-year agreement, Niftylift will exclusively supply Speedy Hire with zero-emission lifts, as well as some hybrid-powered aerial work platforms

Speedy Hire said the platforms are the ‘first viable alternative’ to diesel-powered machines and do not require proprietary power infrastructure to charge batteries.

In addition, the company claims they are quieter, can be refueled faster, can work for up to five days on a single charge, can be used indoors and will have lower transportation costs due to their weight.

The first hydrogen-powered aerial work platform is expected to roll off Niftylift’s assembly line and be delivered to Speedy Hire later this month.

Dan Evans, chief executive at Speedy Hire, said: ‘This world first is a breakthrough for construction companies in the UK, enabling them to start using equipment powered by a zero-emissions fuel such as hydrogen.

“Our investment in this partnership with Niftylift enables us to accelerate the sustainable and technological evolution of the industries we operate in and supports our ambitious plan to become a net zero company by 2040.”

Based in Merseyside, the group hires a wide range of tools and equipment such as crowd control barriers, hydraulic breakers, generators and crane forks.

Large-scale UK infrastructure projects it has worked on include the Thames Tideway tunnel, Crossrail and the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.

It has gradually built up its range of sustainable products in recent years amid an increasing need to decarbonise the built environment, which is responsible for a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to a The report of the House of Representatives.

For the past financial year, ‘eco-products’ accounted for just over half of the company’s £440.6m turnover, although profits plummeted by more than 90 per cent after an inventory check revealed just over £20m of missing goods at the end of the year. brought light.

It claimed the problem was due to improper “controls and accounting procedures” over many years and not “underlying systematic fraud.”

Speedy Hire Stocks were 1.8 percent lower at 35.55 pence early Tuesday afternoon, meaning their value has shrunk by about 10 percent since the start of the year.