AFC Energy PLC (AIM:AFC, OTC:AFGYF, ETR:QC8) has been maintained at 'buy' with a 195p price target by analysts at Peel Hunt following news one of its H-PowerTower fuel cells is being operated by contractors on the HS2 Euston Station construction site in London.
The unit, which is currently fueled by bottled hydrogen, is providing emission-free power to charge all-electric JCB diggers, power for lighting towers and a water pump on the site operated by Mace-Dragados, they noted.
The Peel Hunt analysts said: "This ongoing in-field demonstration follows a successful recent field trial of an AFC Energy PowerTower operated by Acciona on a construction site in Spain. That unit operated both on hydrogen fuel and liquid methanol fuel (in conjunction with an AFC Energy methanol reformer). Feedback from these companies has been highly complimentary."
They pointed out that major construction companies across the UK and Europe have made commitments to materially or completely decarbonise their construction site operations before 2030 - many significantly sooner - and AFC Energy’s fuel cell units are eliminating the high toxic emissions that are conventionally emitted by diesel generators, including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, NOx, SOx and carcinogenic particulate matter.
The analysts concluded that many major projects – HS2 being one of them – specifically target the use of emission-free equipment on construction sites and AFC Energy’s H-PowerTower units, with their ability to deploy flexible fueling strategies (hydrogen gas, liquid methanol and ammonia) are demonstrating leadership in this market.