Abstract The hydraulic scissor lift is a widely used special lifting equipment. In its repeated ascent and descent, the gravitational potential energy of its platform is wasted. To address this problem, a new energy-saving system based on hydraulic accumulator is proposed in this paper. A simulation model of the system is established. The simulation shows that the system can recover up to 73% of the gravitational energy while reducing the installed power of the electric motor by 60%, specifically from 5.5 kW in the baseline design to 2.2 kW in the new system. In conclusion, the proposed system can significantly improve the energy utilization efficiency of the system. This paper shows a reference for machinery similar to a hydraulic scissor lift.