PowerUP Energy Technologies presented the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell generator for the leisure industry, the 400-watt portable generator, in July 2021.
Since then, the company has rolled out 1KW and 3KW generators, and by the end of 2024 says its main clientele is not in the leisure industry, but in telecom, healthcare, construction and defence sectors.
“The UP400 is ideal for use in industries such as sailing and yachting, campervans or motorhomes and homes without a power grid. The generator uses fuel cells that operate in parallel with a battery module. The fuel cells act as the main energy source during operation. Hydrogen is supplied from external cylinders to power the generator. The UP400 comes with a minimum service life of 10,000 operating hours,” the company said.
In June 2022, PowerUP signed a distribution agreement with AS Labruna to sell its products in Italy. AS Labruna has more than fifty years of experience in the sale of marine engines and generators, marine propulsion systems and cranes.
In October 2022, PowerUP Energy Technologies announced a partnership with Meraki GreenDevelopment, a Greek company focused on providing technology solutions to accelerate the transition to green energy in the energy and hospitality sectors.
“We are partnering with PowerUP to cover the <30kW product line with cleaner, quieter, lower maintenance and more cost-effective solutions in Greece and Cyprus,” said James McDougall, co-founder and managing director of Meraki Green Development.
Also in October 2022, PowerUP announced that Telia’s Estonian arm was piloting an innovative hydrogen solution for providing backup power for telecoms networks.
Telia planned to become the first Estonian telecommunications company to use green energy to power its cell towers. The first successful test is still in operations at Telia’s Raudalu cell tower, where two 1 kW hydrogen generators and two 9-liter hydrogen cylinders are tested.
As a next step, the hydrogen generators were to be tested in winter. The challenge for hydrogen generators is that the only emissions of the generator – water vapour – tends to freeze. PowerUP is working on cabinet solutions for outside use during Nordic winters.
In October 2023, PowerUP Energy Technologies partnered with major telecommunications company Tele2 to launch energy solutions for its cell towers.
Tele2’s initial test at the Kostivere cell tower, includes two 1 kW hydrogen generators and a 50-liter hydrogen cylinder, proving the viability of this environmentally friendly alternative. The telecom tower can now operate on hydrogen for up to ten hours, while it can only operate on batteries for a few hours. In most cases, this window is enough to restore normal power supply.
In April 2024, PowerUP Energy Technologies, in cooperation with Norwegian partners Nordic Batteries AS and Beyonder AS, brought to market a new 10 KW power supply system that supplies clean energy to the construction and mining sectors.
The project is supported by the Estonian-Norwegian Green ICT cooperation program. In addition to the hydrogen fuel cell, UPMobile also includes a high-power lithium-ion battery, allowing the generator to provide up to 100 kW of power for applications that require high energy consumption for a limited time, such as construction hoists. The hydrogen fuel cell effectively covers up to 10 kW of continuous low-power demand.
In June 2024, PowerUP Energy Technologies presented the “world’s most powerful hydrogen portable generator” at 3 kW – UP3K. The company announced that the UP3K had been tested by the military, without naming the entity that conducted the tests. PowerUP’s generators have been tested by the French army as part of the review at NATO Energy Security body, who recommended their wider uptake for the defence sector.
It is especially worth noting that neither Estonian PowerUP nor its partners have ever reported mass sales of the company’s H2 generators. “We also have mass deals, but as a private company we are not reporting quarterly financials,” said a spokesman for the company.
Since starting in 2022 the company has signed resellers agreements also in countries like Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Britain.
