Sunbelt Rentals UK partners with fuel cell supplier

Sunbelt Rentals UK is partnering with hydrogen fuel cell specialist GeoPura to rent its 500kW HPU fuel cell generator.

The two-year, non-exclusive agreement will see Sunbelt rent GeoPura’s HPU unit to customers in markets including events and construction. Under the partnership, GeoPura will own the units that are rented by Sunbelt.

Will Docherty, sales director for film and TV markets at GeoPura, speaking to International Rental News at Sunbelt’s recent customer event in Birmingham, said; “The plan with Sunbelt is to target the mass market and supply Sunbelt’s customers. This is how to scale up.”

Andy Doherty of Sunbelt Rentals UK (left) with GeoPura’s Matt Docherty, at a recent Sunbelt customers event in the UK. (Image: IRN)

Sunbelt will have access to 250kW and 500kW units and there are plans for a smaller, 80kW unit next year.

Andy Doherty, sales director for power at Sunbelt Rentals UK, said the challenge with fuel cell gensets in the past had been the cost of the hydrogen; “GeoPura has brought the cost right down and have made it competitive.”

He added; “GeoPura has got it right with the 500kW HPU. For us, its about having the confidence to bring something to market that works well.”

The HPU units are manufactured by Siemens Energy in Newcastle, UK. Siemens is a shareholder of GeoPura as well as its manufacturing partner.

GeoPura will also provide the infrastructure to supply green hydrogen to the units rented by Sunbelt. It has 70 MEGC (Multiple Element Gas Containers) transporters operating in the UK.

One of the benefits of the HPU units, said Matt Docherty, was their resilience and reliability, to the extent that they have supplied power for broadcasting live golf events in the UK without the need for back-up diesel power.

GeoPura’s 500kW HPU unit on show at a Sunbelt Rentals UK customer event. (Image: IRN)

In construction, the units would be used to provide power for site cabins, to charge electric vehicles (including construction equipment), as well as charging smaller BESS units.

GeoPura has plans to expand the supply of the fuel cell units in the UK and throughout Europe. The company also has an office in Denmark.