(Alliance News) - ABB Ltd and AFC Energy PLC on Wednesday said they had launched a strategic partnership aimed at creating a new high power sustainable electric vehicle charging product.
Shares in ABB were down 0.2% at CHF23.96 in Zurich on Wednesday morning. AFC shares, meanwhile, were up 16% at 43.67 pence in London.
The new product will use Swiss engineering firm ABB's energy storage solution and its DC electric vehicle fact chargers plus AFC's zero emission hydrogen fuel cell, creating a fully autonomous product that provides and end-to-end solution for high power charging sites in locations with limited grid connection.
Predictions have suggested that by 2040 there will be just under 500 million electric vehicles on the road by 2040, with 58% of all new passenger vehicle sales and 47% of the global fleet being electric. Moreover, the global electric vehicle charging market is expected to reach USD140 billion by 2030.
ABB said: "The collaboration between ABB and AFC Energy aims to support the delivery of the charging infrastructure required to meet this increasing demand. It will result in a new solution that will provide a secure, efficient, flexible and reliable local power supply, with zero emissions, and will be ready for deployment initially in the UK, Europe, United States and elsewhere, by the second half of 2021."
Hydrogen power generation technology firm AFC said both companies will invest in a commercialisation and marketing agreement as well as a joint product development agreement.
The commercialisation and marketing agreement will focus on joint marketing and deployment of of integrated high power electric vehicle charging systems across key ABB markets such as private vehicle hubs; public and private urban transportation; logistics hubs and distribution centres; vertical take off and landing craft; and charge point operators.
AFC is afforded right of first refusal across multiple years to supply its H-Power fuel cell systems into ABB's electric vehicle charging network. The two firms will jointly market the product and develop a communications strategy for branding and deployment in collaboration with each other.
Adam Bond, chief executive at AFC Energy, said: "Today marks an historic milestone in the commercialisation of our proprietary hydrogen fuel cell as we commence a long-term relationship with ABB. As one of the world's leading suppliers of rapid EV charging infrastructure, this strategic partnership is fully aligned with AFC Energy's go to market strategy with ABB providing strong and credible access to key customer channels both in Europe and overseas."
Additionally, ABB said its has completed the large-scale remote commissioning of winder drives for a "major paper producer in India". ABB upgraded and commissioned PM5 installations at ITC's Paperboards & Specialty Papers Division mill, located in south-central India.
The project included an upgrade of the mill's winder drive system to ABB's latest ACS880 drives, AC motors, AC800M controller and process panel. Additionally, ABB ensured all new assets had been fully commissioned and were ready for operation. The commissioning took only three days.
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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AFC Energy (AFC)