Industrial gas supplier Airgas Inc of Radnor and hydrogen fuel cell maker Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc of Billerica and Milan, Italy have struck a deal involving systems for forklifts.

Airgas and Nuvera reached a five-year marketing, sales and service agreement to provide hydrogen generators and stations to the North American materials handling market.

Under the agreement, Nuvera manufactures the PowerTap-brand systems, and Airgas provides distribution, installation, monitoring and maintenance of the equipment along with backup hydrogen supplies at customer sites.

The sustainable technology lowers carbon dioxide emissions and eliminates "more costly, resource-intense battery installations and disposal", says Peter McCausland, Airgas chairman and chief executive officer. "By combining Nuvera's technology and manufacturing expertise with Airgas' nationwide distribution capability, we're able to provide the lowest total cost energy solution for these customers."

A goal for Nuvera is to boost commercialisation of its products. "With this new distribution and service channel for our PowerTap systems and source for backup hydrogen, the materials handling market has a reliable, cost-effective and reputable source of hydrogen," notes Roberto Cordaro, Nuvera CEO.

The agreement was announced on 17 August.

Publicly traded Airgas employs more than 14,000 people in 1,100 branches, retail stores, gas-fill plants, specialty gas labs and production facilities. Among Airgas competitors are Air Products and Chemicals Inc of Allentown, Pennsylvania and L'Air Liquide SA of Paris.

Among its project2, Nuvera is supplying 14 fuel cell systems to HE Butt Grocery Co for installation on Class 2 reach forklifts in a Texas perishables distribution center (Forkliftaction.com News #415). In February, Nuvera disengaged from a four-year fuel cell project with East Penn Manufacturing Co Inc of Lyon Station, Pennsylvania, and each firm indicated an intention to pursue the market from different perspectives, Nuvera in electrochemical fuel cells and East Penn in hybrid fuel cell technology (Forkliftaction.com News #397). Among others, privately owned Nuvera competes with the GenDrive fuel cell system from Plug Power Inc of Latham, New York.