Plug Power Inc. Awarded Contract with Detroit Edison
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By Jennifer Humiston,
Public Relations and Marketing Specialist

Plug Power Inc., a leading provider of clean, reliable on-site energy, was awarded a contract in December 2004 to provide on-site hydrogen generation to The Detroit Edison Company’s Saint Clair Power Plant. Hydrogen will be used to provide cooling to six generator units at the facility.

“This is a great opportunity for Detroit Edison to test and prove on-site hydrogen generation technology in a demanding, industrial application,” said Guy Harris, Detroit Edison Director, Fossil Generation Performance. “We look forward to working with Plug Power on similar ventures in the future and in helping to play an important role in the realization of the hydrogen economy.”

Plug Power shipped a GenSite™ hydrogen generator to be installed at the plant, located near Saint Clair in East China, Michigan. The plant produces approximately 1,400 megawatts of power for Detroit Edison’s system, which serves 2.1 million customers.

In January 2005, Plug Power announced that the company will install two additional GenSiteTM systems under two recently awarded programs sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

“Under the strong leadership of Governor Pataki, NYSERDA has been helping to advance hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, with Plug Power being a key player,” said NYSERDA President Peter R. Smith. “We are excited about funding these two projects because they involve the use of hydrogen in real life applications much sooner than we anticipated.”

Under the first program, Plug Power will partner with American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. and Homeland Energy to provide the refueling infrastructure necessary for fuel cell vehicles, including two Honda FCXs recently leased by New York State.

Plug Power will install a GenSite™ system capable of fueling fuel cell vehicles and Air Products’ HF-150 mobile refueler. According to public sources, as of November 2004, 70 hydrogen refueling stations had been installed for hydrogen refueling projects. Currently, California, New York and Florida have hydrogen highway initiatives and the number of states starting to fund these projects is expected to increase.

For the second project, Plug Power will partner with Albany NanoTech, a leading global center for nanotechnology research and development, to integrate a GenSiteTM system into the existing hydrogen infrastructure. Albany NanoTech uses hydrogen in semiconductor research and development. This project will enable the partners to explore applicability of on-site hydrogen generation within the semiconductor industry while gaining critical applications knowledge at a highly visible site.



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