AFC Energy Share News (AFC)

(ShareCast News) - Industrial fuel cell power company AFC Energy has inked a strategic engineering partnership and services agreement with German engineering consultancy plantIng to support the rollout of its alkaline fuel cell system.PlantIng will invest time and resources in supporting AFC Energy to address the identified deployment opportunities that exist in Germany, Europe and internationally.Under the agreement, the German-based group will drive further project development opportunities for AFC's fuel cell system amongst its existing and prospective client base, leveraging the potential partnering opportunities for the two companies and providing a faster commercial rollout of its fuel cell systems.AFC said the agreement will allow it to concentrate in the short term on the further commercial refinement of its alkaline fuel cell technology.PlantIng has also agreed to provide engineering support services on several feasibility studies for commercial fuel cell projects currently under evaluation by AFC.AFC's chief executive officer Adam Bond said: "This agreement today marks the start of a longer term relationship with plantIng, which will see AFC Energy access the expertise of one of Germany's most respected process engineering houses."This marks a new start for the outsourcing of non-core engineering services required for the optimisation of AFC Energy's fuel cell system design ready for commercialisation."The company did not disclose any financial details.At 0934 GMT, AFC shares were up 2.9% to 21.10p.