LATHAM, N.Y., July 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUG ), a leader in providing clean, reliable energy solutions, today highlights that recent customer success with hydrogen production systems, called on-site reformers, allows GenDrive ® fuel cells to provide cost-effective power for smaller forklift truck fleets. On-site reformer systems convert natural gas to hydrogen on customer premises, which decreases fuel infrastructure costs and makes hydrogen power more viable.
To power their fuel cell vehicles, customers have two hydrogen supply options: install a hydrogen storage system that dispenses delivered compressed hydrogen, or install a reformer infrastructure on-site that generates, compresses, stores and dispenses hydrogen.
Plug Power initially focused GenDrive sales efforts on large distribution centers where replacing lead-acid batteries with cleaner, more efficient fuel cells provided a green, cost-effective solution for fleets averaging 100 forklift trucks.
With cost-efficient on-site hydrogen production solutions now proving to be a viable option, Plug Power is able to broaden its reach and supply fuel cell solutions to customer sites with fleet sizes as small as 20 forklift trucks. This capability could lead to a 40 percent expansion in the company's serviceable addressable market, and expand Plug Power's North America market size by more than $1 billion.
Already, GenDrive units are being ordered by customers who will be generating hydrogen on-site. One such Plug Power customer, Ace Hardware, will deploy 65 GenDrive units to power its lift truck fleet at its newest retail support center in Wilmer, TX, when it is completed in 2014. Ace Hardware will be using an on-site hydrogen generation and refueling solution provided by Nuvera Fuel Cells. On-site generation of hydrogen will allow Ace to eliminate most of the upfront costs of bringing hydrogen to the site.
"Low-cost hydrogen infrastructure is crucial to expansion for Plug Power," said Andy Marsh, CEO at Plug Power. "The ability to satisfy smaller fleets within our already proven market of material handling will allow Plug Power to successfully work with smaller customer sites where hydrogen now makes sense for their business."
About Plug Power Inc.
The architects of modern fuel cell technology, Plug Power is revolutionizing the industry with cost-effective power solutions that increase productivity, lower operating costs and reduce carbon footprints. Long-standing relationships with industry leaders forged the path for Plug Power's key accounts, including Walmart, Sysco, P&G and Mercedes. With more than 4,000 GenDrive units deployed to material handling customers, accumulating over 12 million hours of runtime, Plug Power manufactures tomorrow's incumbent power solutions today. Additional information about Plug Power is available at www.plugpower.com .
Plug Power Inc. Safe Harbor Statement
This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.These statements are based on current expectations that are subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties, any of which are difficult to predict, are beyond our control and that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations in our forward-looking statements including, but not limited to: the risk that we continue to incur losses and might never achieve or maintain profitability, the risk that we expect we will need to raise additional capital to fund our operations and such capital may not be available to us; our lack of extensive experience in manufacturing and marketing products may impact our ability to manufacture and market products on a profitable and large-scale commercial basis; the risk that unit orders will not ship, be installed and/or converted to revenue, in whole or in part; the risk that pending orders may not convert to purchase orders; the risk that our continued failure to comply with NASDAQ's listing standards may severely limit our ability to raise additional capital; the cost and timing of developing our products and our ability to raise the necessary capital to fund such costs; the ability to achieve the forecasted gross margin on the sale of our products; the actual net cash used for operating expenses may exceed the projected net cash for operating expenses; the cost and availability of fuel and fueling infrastructures for our products; market acceptance of our GenDrive systems; our ability to establish and maintain relationships with third parties with respect to product development, manufacturing, distribution and servicing and the supply of key product components; the cost and availability of components and parts for our products; our ability to develop commercially viable products; our ability to reduce product and manufacturing costs; our ability to successfully expand our product lines; our ability to improve system reliability for our GenDrive systems; competitive factors, such as price competition and competition from other traditional and alternative energy companies; our ability to protect our intellectual property; the cost of complying with current and future federal, state and international governmental regulations; and other risks and uncertainties discussed, but are not limited to, those set forth in (i) "Item IA-Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 30, 2012 and (ii) in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 filed with the SEC on November 14, 2012, as well as in the other reports we file from time to time with the SEC. We do not intend to, and undertake no duty to; update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.
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