Plug Power Inc. is an American company engaged in the development of

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

and electrolyser systems that replace conventional batteries in equipment and vehicles powered by electricity. The company is headquartered in

Latham, New York Latham is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place in Albany County, New York, Albany County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 9 in New York, U.S. Route 9 in the Administrative divisions of ...

, and has facilities in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, and

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. Plug Power's GenDrive system integrates fuel cells manufactured by both Plug Power and

Ballard Power Systems Ballard Power Systems Inc. is a developer and manufacturer of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products for markets such as heavy-duty motive (consisting of bus and tram applications), portable power, material handling as well as enginee ...

and incorporates a hydrogen storage system that allows the system to "recharge" in a matter of minutes as opposed to several hours for lead-acid batteries. It allows hydrogen-powered forklifts to run at a constant steady power. GenDrive units occupy the same space designed for conventional batteries.

History

Plug Power was founded in 1997 as a joint venture between DTE Energy and Mechanical Technology Inc. The company went public in October 1999. The company was subject to a shareholder class action complaint for securities fraud following the IPO for allegedly misleading statements about their fuel cell technology capabilities and on its material sales and distribution relationship with General Electric. By order dated October 30, 2000, the Eastern District of New York court consolidated the complaints into one action, entitled Plug Power Inc. Securities Litigation, CV-00-5553 (ERK) (RML). On December 29, 2004, the company settled the matter with the sum of $5 million paid by Plug Power company directors to plaintiffs. In February 2017, the company announced the first shipments of its ProGen fuel cell engines designed for electric delivery vehicles and the adoption of its GenDrive system by the

USPS The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

forklift fleet in Capitol Heights, Maryland. In February 2020, the company introduced 125 kW Progen fuel cell engines for class 6, 7 & 8 trucks and heavy duty off-road equipment. In January 2021,

SK Group SK Group () is a South Korean multinational manufacturing and services conglomerate headquartered in Seoul. A chaebol (Korean family-owned conglomerate), SK Group is the second largest such conglomerate by revenue in South Korea, after Samsun ...

, a major South Korean company, announced an investment of $1.5 billion in Plug Power for around 10% share. They will form a joint venture company in South Korea to supply hydrogen fuel cell products to Asian markets. In January 2021, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with French automobile manufacturer

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

. The deal would launch a joint venture in France by the end of June 2021. On March 2, 2021, Plug Power filed a Notification of Late Filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission stating that it could not timely file its annual report for the period ended December 31, 2020. On March 16, 2021, the company announced that they would have to restate financial statements for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 as well as some recent quarterly filings. It is subject to an ongoing shareholder class action lawsuit for securities fraud over alleged misrepresentations and/or failures to disclose its inability to timely file its 2020 annual report and material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting. Due to the rarity of

hydrogen infrastructure A hydrogen infrastructure is the infrastructure of points of hydrogen production, truck and pipeline transport, and hydrogen stations for the distribution and sale of hydrogen fuel, and thus a crucial prerequisite before a successful commercial ...

, Plug Power delivers several mobile refueler solution for transit agencies and trucking fleet customers.

References

External links

* {{authority control Engineering companies of the United States Companies based in Albany County, New York Fuel cell manufacturers American companies established in 1997 Technology companies established in 1997 Companies listed on the Nasdaq 1999 initial public offerings Former joint ventures