ITM Power in fuel cell materials handling trial with Marks and Spencer plc
20 January 2012
ITM Power has signed a pilot agreement with M&S (Marks and Spencer) to deliver the UK’s first hydrogen fuel cell materials handling trial using on site hydrogen generation.
Using the ITM Power HFuel platform to generate hydrogen, the six-week trial involves M&S using several fuel cell vehicles as a direct substitute for part of the existing battery-powered fleet. The vehicles will be deployed at M&S’s 1.1 million sq. ft. Prologis Park Distribution Centre.
The trial forms part of the M&S Plan A initiative, and aims to deliver zero emission vehicles with superior performance and a two-minute refuel time. The trial is the first of its kind in the UK.
Plan A is Marks & Spencer’s eco and ethical program which aims to make M&S the world’s most sustainable major retailer by 2015. Launched in 2007 and extended in March 2010, it takes a holistic approach to sustainability focusing on involving customers, involving all areas of the business and tackling issues such as climate change, waste, raw materials, health and being a fair partner.
The global materials handling market, valued at $20B, is seen as a key early adoption market for hydrogen with fuel cells already being able to offer superior performance to battery powered systems.
The involvement of companies such as M&S is essential to developing commercially viable hydrogen solutions for the materials handling industry. We are extremely pleased to be conducting this trial with M&S who continue to lead the way for sustainable technology deployment.
—Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power
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