Plug Power — the Latham, New York, based provider of fuel cells for forklifts — wants to expand into other types of vehicles, such as airport support vehicles and refrigerated trucks, company CEO Andrew Marsh told Bloomberg News. The move comes as the US Department of Energy expects to award $30 million in research grants to expand the use of fuel cells, which are more environmentally friendly than other vehicle fuels such as gasoline, diesel and propane.
Marsh said this year the company expects to report its first profit since it went public in 1999, attributing the success to growing sales in its fuel cell-powered forklifts.
According to Marsh, the company wants to create an industrial ecosystem powered by fuel cells, with forklifts being just the first type of vehicle to use the low emissions energy source. Forklifts are only a niche to sustain the company, which now intends to expand into new areas where fuel cells can compete with electricity from fossil fuels.
Plug Power’s stock has increased in value by more than 1,000% in the past six months as the demand for cleaner-running forklifts grows stronger. The company expects orders to almost quadruple this year, increasing to about $150 million per year.
Earlier this month, Plug Power bought the fuel cell stack manufacturer ReliOn for approximately $4 million in an all-stock deal, according to the New York Times. The acquisition helps Plug Power expand into the stationary backup fuel cell market. The company’s current exclusive supplier of fuel cell stacks is Ballard Power Systems, of Canada.