Nixon Hire charges ahead in Wolverhampton
21 July 2023
At Nixon Hire’s new depot in Wolverhampton the main focus is on equipment from the company’s thriving Renewables Division. And interestingly, in developing the site it has put into practice many of the principles and procedures surrounding sustainability and carbon reduction that the business promotes to customers looking to meet their environmental obligations.
It’s an impressive location occupying nearly five acres and in the past it was a depot and workshop facility for portable buildings supplier Algeco (formerly Elliott). Nixon Hire has refurbished the buildings and purpose-designed them for equipping, servicing and renovating site cabins and welfare facilities with maximum efficiency.
Significant investment has been made in these products for the Wolverhampton depot fleet, including items like Prolectric Solar Hybrid Power generators, AJC EasyCabin mobile welfare units, Solar Smart Frames from AJC’s Power Solutions division and EHR battery storage products from Himoinsa. Overall the equipment spend runs into several millions, reflecting the growth of the Nixon Hire renewables activity.
Charging facilities have been installed at the rear of the building to top up battery powered products if necessary before going back out on hire. However, Nick Hibbard, Nixon Hire’s UK Divisional Manager – Renewables, tells me that an extensive solar panel array will be fitted to the roof to provide green energy for charging a purpose-built battery storage system, and it will also be possible to integrate products like the Solar Smart Frames into the system so that in the (perhaps rare) event of them not being on hire, they can also contribute energy harvested from the sun, maximising their return on investment.
“The solar energy will eventually power the entire site including the workshops and offices,” he says. “And any surplus can be sold to the grid.
“In a similar way, solar technology has advanced so quickly that a site can now often collect enough power to run the welfare facilities via a Prolectric Solar Hybrid Power unit or an AJC Solar Smart Frame, with any excess feeding into a Himoinsa battery for night-time running.”
A backup generator is obviously provided in most setups. However, Nick says that on several days a few weeks ago, Nixon Hire’s telematics systems showed that all the power being used at every customer’s site throughout the country was running entirely off solar or battery power, with no use of fossil fuel.
The Wolverhampton depot will be run in a similar manner. And rooftop arrays are also being fitted at other Nixon Hire facilities.
Nick adds that equipment like IDE’s Erica distribution board (standing for energy reduction through informed control and information) can automatically switch power to different parts of a setup when and where it is needed, as well as enabling timed operation.
Also, a specially designed car charger from Victron can automatically optimise the power that is fed to the vehicle battery to overload overloading the system.
“The telematics and data capture enables us to monitor each site setup, fine-tune it and adapt it if needed,” says Nick.
Andy Homer, Nixon Hire’s Operations Manager – South, says that the Wolverhampton workshop facility has been designed for the efficient throughput of the typically large site units to get them back out on hire quickly. A mezzanine floor will also be added to store furniture and fittings used in the cabins.
Low-power LED lighting has been installed throughout the buildings with a projected payback time of just one year.
“Our next nearest depots are in Warrington and Nottingham,” says Andy. “It will also take pressure off our Bedford location (featured earlier on the blog.) And we’ve already won new customers in the region.”
Nixon Hire is actively looking for other depots as the business extends its coverage, particularly in the south of the country.
Photos: Alan Guthrie
