Hydrogen ADT retrofit solution HyConstruct Partnership

“With our Hydrogen ADT retrofit solution, we don’t have to wait for new machines to come off the production line.” says Colin Evison of BAM UK & Ireland

I met him at the Plantforce Rentals open day, where he revealed plans for retrofitting existing Rokbak ADTs to use a Hydrogen and Diesel Mix as part of a new industry collaboration.

The project, known as HyConstruct, brings together partners including BRE, UlemCo and GeoPura. This follows the Element 1 programme, which involved retrofitting Kobelco and Caterpillar excavators.

Colin: We learnt a lot from the previous project, where we deployed an end to end hydrogen solution on three sites.

“Now we’re taking that knowledge and designing a solution for 30-tonne Rokbak ADTs to displace up to 30% of diesel consumption. With ADTs consuming a large amount of diesel, we have a real opportunity with retrofit to reduce that and improve tailpipe emissions onsite much faster.”

In the workshop, Colin pointed out what key design considerations have been put in place:

“We’ve been working through how much space we’ve got, how much hydrogen we need to store, and how the engine and air intake systems need to be modified.

“Thanks to 3D modeling we also know we can integrate the five onboard hydrogen tanks needed for a full shift without affecting operation or visibility.

“The next step is to complete the retrofit and start testing, which will include working on our own projects.”

Watch this space for more news on the project later in 2026…..