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Powervamp Limited

Powervamp Ltd is a UK based manufacturer of aviation ground power units (GPUs), automotive battery jump start packs, DC power supplies, frequency converters and emergency lighting central battery systems.

The company’s headquarters is located in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset with its main manufacturing facility is near Luton, 20 miles north of London. Powervamp exports products to over 65 countries worldwide through a dedicated distributor network.

Powervamp was founded in 1993 by Chairman Richard Roller and was incorporated in 1994. Initially building a range of portable battery packs for starting cars, buses and trucks, Powervamp began developing a range of DC battery packs for starting helicopter turbines which lead to the development of a new range of portable power products.

Powervamps growth is a result of its continuous ‘hands-on’ testing in the early days allowing the company to re-develop and fine-tune its products. The company would eventually build a reputation for quality and product support – ethics that Richard Roller instilled into the company from the start, and was convinced would keep Powervamp ahead of the competition.

Powervamp improved the quality and performance of its components and therefore maintained the premium prices set out in the beginning. Powervamp had great success in the beginning, as they were able to recognise that products were subject to user abuse at all levels, which Powervamp found difficult to prove. Powervamp's competitors kept reducing prices leading to smaller profit margins and struggled to absorb the costs of multiple warranty claims, which resulted in customer dissatisfaction and ultimately leading to competitors ceasing to operate. Large scale automotive professionals, including Volvo, DAF, Iveco trucks and local councils with fleets of vehicles tended to reject cheaper brands and unreliable products and started buying the premium products for the build quality and performance.

On 1st Febuary 2012 Powervamp announced it had acquired Effekta UK Ltd, the manufacturer of advanced solid state 400Hz aircraft converters and standby lighting systems furthering the company’s product profile into the corporate AC aviation market. Powervamp since then have provided its PV90-3 frequency converters into the major airports including London Heathrow, Edinburgh, Bristol and London City.

In 2019, Powervamp was purchased by TLD Group, a subsidiary of the ALVEST group.

Aviation Ground Power Units Powervamp manufacture both DC ground power units and 400Hz FEGP (Fixed electrical ground power) ground power units.

400Hz AC Power

DC Ground Power Units

Cable Carriers

Powervamp's sidewinder unit is used in multiple UK airports including Bristol, and Heathrow. The sidewinder has been engineered to reduce impact damage and rough handling of aircraft plugs and power cabling.

Greener Power

With the aviaiton industry continuously having to improve on CO2 emmissions from airports around the country, pressure to provide greener ground support equipment in the industry is huge from the goverment. Powervamp utilise battery carts for the starting of aircraft due to the demand for more economically friendly solutions within the aviation industry. Fixed electrical ground power units offer considerable benefits to local air quality when compared to a diesel GPU and an on-board APU can burn up to six times the amount of fuel compared to a diesel GPU. Miami airport have reported that the installation of FEGP units has saved them an estimated 131,400 gallons of diesel per year. Powervamp uses lead-acid batteries in all DC carts, and more than 50 % of lead used in production of more lead products around the world is sourced from recycled lead. The current lead recycling rate in North America and Europe is nearly 100%.

Bespoke Power Applications Powervamp are able to re-develop, or modify exisiting products sold to suit a different application compared to the standard use of the unit. Powervamp had provided ground power units into logistic companies to raise and lower the intermediate decks of double-decker freight trailers offering a reliable solution to raise and lower decks on a single charge.

The Powervamp PV90-3 was re-developed for London City Airport to provide a single-person operated 400Hz ground power unit powered by a bank of high-discharge batteries. This allowed the 400Hz unit to be removed from the flight line before aircraft arrival or departure.

Distributors

Powervamp's dedicated aviation distributor is Aero Specialites [].

For automotive products within the UK its dedicated distributor is Alliance Transport Technologies.

Services In addition to offering ground support equipment to the aviation industry, Powervamp maintains and repairs all new and existing units on the market. Powervamp's service team are able to provide product support throughout the world for the aviation GPU's. Powervamp has an extensive supply of ground support equipment which is available for lease and rental. The company has supplied this equipment to airshows throughout the world including Paris Airshow since 2001, an has also provided equipment to Farnborough and Singapore Airshows.