AFC Energy PLC (AIM:AFC, OTC:AFGYF) said it will get £4.3mln of grant funding for its work on the UK government's red diesel replacement (RDR) programme, where its hydrogen-powered generators are helping decarbonise sectors including construction, quarrying and mining.

 

The grant, which is from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and is part of £4.8mln awarded to a consortium led by AFC, will support first field testing of new larger generators.

 

This follows the field testing of its air-cooled H-Power Tower generators on UK construction sites over the past year, AFC said.

 

Field testing will support the accelerated development and commercialisation of its next generation of larger scale hydrogen powered generators, including both air-cooled (S Series) and liquid-cooled (S+ Series) larger tower generators.

 

AFC said that a key element of its successful grant funding application was how ready it is to scale up its technology and commercial sales, along with its close alignment to construction contractors and plant hire businesses, one of which provided a letter of support to the application.

 

Field testing will take place with consortium partners, Brett Aggregates, a building materials group, and Energy Solutions, a provider of hybrid battery and energy storage solutions.

 

Following the field deploys of multiple H-Power tower generators with customers and partners over the past 18 months, AFC chief executive Adam Bond said “it is clear industry is increasingly ready to transition away from polluting diesel generators at construction and temporary power sites”.

 

He said the consortium's success in gaining grant support in the RDR programme is “a nationally significant funding commitment that demonstrates the commitment by governments and industry to decarbonise off-grid power generation through zero emission hydrogen fueled generators”.