2019 Annual Merit Review Proceedings

Plenary Address by Keith Schmid, Plug Power (Text Version)

This is the text version of the Plenary Address by Keith Schmid, Plug Power video from the industry/R&D plenary panel session at the 2019 Annual Merit Review.

Sunita Satyapal, DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Office Director:

Please join me in welcoming Keith Schmid from Plug Power.

Keith Schmid:

First of all, I'd like to thank Sunita and the team for the opportunity to be here today and talk to this forum. Forums like this that engage the entire industry, we feel, are extremely important. First, I'd like to take the opportunity on behalf of Plug Power to thank the DOE for their decades of support as we transition from a development stage company to truly a commercial enterprise. So that is something that we could not have done without the support and close teamwork in this government and private investment partnership. So, again, thank you for all the help and support over the years.

But as we all know, the work is never done. And the reward for good work is more good work to do. The industry needs—now more than ever—the continued collaboration of industry and government together to make fuel cells a commonplace solution across our commercial landscape.

It is really a great time to be in the industry. For fuel cell veterans, for those of us that have been toiling for quite some time, we are just now beginning to realize the fruits of many, many years of hard work and effort. But today, with the participation, and the influence, of some of the world's leading companies, represented by the Hydrogen Council, we are now starting to see market development efforts at a scale that has been unprecedented in our field. What we see out there is a lot of excitement. The momentum is real. It's visible. And it's growing. It's a great time to be in this industry.

I think most importantly, customer acceptance and comfort with the solutions are increasing. California has been a huge driver this year. And the California station buildout has truly been key. Hydrogen in our industry is the big enabler. Today, U.S. deployments of fuel cell autos, light-duty vehicles, have reached 6,000 units. Those numbers are almost unimaginable a few years ago. And that is more than double of the next largest market, which is Japan. And I think most importantly, and key to everything that we do, is that people like the technology. Clean, quiet, zero emission.

The investor sentiment is positive. Renewal of the investment tax credit has been really important for continued growth here in the U.S. A leading indicator of investor sentiment has been the Bloom Energy IPO that occurred just recently. It was well received by the market, and in addition, other companies in the industry have been able to go and access the capital markets successfully. Another key validation point of growth are the recent announcements by Air Products, Air Liquide, and Praxair of major investments in expanding domestic hydrogen production. The IGCs—they see the growing demand, and they know that the hydrogen economy is becoming real.

Industrial applications continue to grow. At Plug Power, we created the first true commercial market for fuel cells in material handling. Customers like Wal-Mart, Amazon, Carrefour depend on our fuel cell solutions 24 by 7 by 365. Approximately 30 percent of the groceries in the U.S. are moved by Plug Power fuel cells. They are a critical part of these leading companies' operations. They're not a science project, they're not an experiment. These companies utilize these solutions because it saves them money, it makes them more efficient, and they're helping sustainability. SOFC fuel cell technology is rapidly growing in the power-generation space, with companies like Bloom Energy. Opportunities for energy storage in the form of hydrogen gas are becoming economically feasible, with low-cost renewables and stranded electricity. In addition, we see interest and demand beginning to grow in stationary markets, particularly in telecoms, with the advent of 4G and 5G networks.

Fleet vehicles, due to their high utilization, longer range, and large payload requirements, are a segment in which fuel cells provide great value. The activity in these segments continues to grow. And a good example is the recent launch of the Nikola heavy-duty truck. It generates significant interest both from the market and the venture community. Toyota also launched their second-generation heavy-duty truck at the Port of Long Beach. And delivery van trials have been successful in this space.

I think that Plug Power serves as an example of what is really possible at the industry at large. To kind of walk through this, we launched our GenDrive product commercially in 2009. It was made possible through a true partnership of private investment and government support that was synced with industry and market demand. We put our first 300 units, they were fielded with customers like FedEx and Sysco Foods. And this was made possible by the support of the DOE’s—the Department of Energy’s—market transformation program. The success of this partnership really cannot be understated.

From this beginning, today, at Plug Power, we have shipped over 25,000 GenDrive units. We have built more than 80 hydrogen fueling stations. We purchase over 20 tons of liquid hydrogen for use daily. And we have executed over 16 million fueling events from our Plug-Power-designed and -constructed fueling stations. In addition, we have become the largest U.S. MEA manufacturer, a key component in our fuel cell systems. Again, to reiterate, a key part of this success was the partnership between private investment and government support that is really necessary for emerging technology.

To summarize, global interest and efforts are really at an all-time high. We see customer acceptance increasing. The investment sentiment in the marketplace is positive and growing. Industrial applications continue to grow. And there have been significant advances in commercial fleet applications. Hydrogen for this marketplace and this industry is a key enabler. And the IGCs in North America have announced significant investments in capacity expansion for hydrogen. The momentum is building. And from our perspective at Plug Power, it is truly, truly an exciting time to be in this industry today.