UNFI Deploys Plug Power GenDrive Fuel Cells to Increase Productivity at Distribution Center
13 Luglio 2010 - 1:00PM
Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), a leader in providing clean,
reliable energy solutions, today announces that its GenDrive™ fuel
cell units are currently powering a fleet of The Raymond
Corporation's electric lift trucks at United Natural Foods, Inc.'s
(Nasdaq:UNFI) Sarasota, Florida distribution center.
UNFI purchased 65 GenDrive fuel cell units on December 24, 2009.
UNFI added 29 new Raymond lift trucks to its fleet, and will
retrofit 36 existing Raymond lift trucks to run off the GenDrive
fuel cells. The Raymond Corporation, and Authorized Raymond Sales
and Service Center Abel Womack, provided fuel cell compatible
Raymond Reach-Fork® trucks, pallet trucks, orderpickers and
counterbalanced lift trucks to UNFI. The GenDrive units,
manufactured at Plug Power's Latham, NY, facility shipped in early
June.
By powering the lift truck fleet at its 352,000 square-foot
distribution center with Plug Power's GenDrive fuel cell units,
UNFI made a commitment to adopt a hydrogen economy at its facility.
Productivity gains are expected at its Sarasota operation as lift
trucks will be able to move product at a faster pace. By using
GenDrive, battery droop is also eliminated. Material handling
equipment operates at full performance as GenDrive continuously
performs like a fully charged battery.
Operational costs at the facility are expected to be reduced
from the replacement of UNFI's large battery infrastructure with
two compact hydrogen dispensers placed in strategic locations
throughout the facility. Operator and truck downtime are also
anticipated to decrease as a result of GenDrive units being
refueled with hydrogen in less than three minutes.
"Plug Power's GenDrive units deliver a value proposition to
customers that will allow them to be more successful then their
competitors," said Andy Marsh, CEO at Plug Power. "UNFI,
specifically, can leverage the significant reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions to aid in its culture of social responsibility. The
only by-products generated by the hydrogen-powered GenDrive unit
are heat and water. For UNFI's Sarasota facility, this is a carbon
emission reduction of 132 metric tons annually, an amount
equivalent to the annual emissions of 35 automobiles."
Tom Dziki, Senior Vice President of Sustainable Development for
UNFI, commented, "This project is a natural extension of our
strategy to create a socially responsible environment in all the
communities we serve. Hydrogen fuel cells not only provide greater
productivity and lower operating costs but will be an important
component of a clean energy future and we are happy to be
pioneering the use of this technology in Florida. Once implemented,
this fuel cell project is expected to create annual energy savings
of approximately 640,000 kilowatt hours." The Sarasota facility,
which employs approximately 160 associates, serves as a regional
distribution hub for customers in the Southeastern United
States.
"The close cooperation of The Raymond Corporation and Plug
Power, along with Raymond Sales and Service Centers
Abel Womack and Raymond Handling Consultants, helped ensure
UNFI's lift truck fleet was converted to hydrogen fuel
cell-power and ready for operation when it needed it to
be," says Frank Devlin, segment manager for fuel cells at The
Raymond Corporation.
About Plug Power Inc.
The architects of modern fuel cell technology, Plug Power
revolutionized 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 our key accounts, including Wegmans, Whole
Foods, and FedEx Freight. With more than 1,000 units in the
field and over 1.5 million hours of runtime, Plug Power
manufactures tomorrow's incumbent power solutions today. Visit us
at www.plugpower.com. The Plug Power Inc. logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4446
About United Natural Foods
United Natural Foods, Inc. (http://www.unfi.com/) carries and
distributes more than 60,000 products to more than 17,000 customer
locations nationwide. The Company serves a wide variety of retail
formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural product
superstores, independent retail operators and the food service
channel. United Natural Foods, Inc. was ranked by Forbes in 2005 as
one of the "Best Managed Companies in America," ranked by Fortune
in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 as one of its "Most Admired
Companies," winner of the Supermarket News 2008 Sustainability
Excellence Award, and recognized by the Nutrition Business Journal
for its 2009 Environment and Sustainability Award.
Raymond and Reach-Fork® are a registered trademark of The
Raymond Corporation.
Plug Power Inc. Safe Harbor Statement
This communication contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. We believe that it is important to communicate our future
expectations to our investors. However, there may be events in the
future that we are not able to accurately predict or control and
that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the
expectations we describe in our forward-looking statements,
including, without limitation, statements regarding the risk that
unit orders will not ship, be installed and/or convert to revenue,
in whole or in part; the cost and timing of developing our products
and our ability to raise the necessary capital to fund such
development costs; we may be unable to achieve the forecasted gross
margin on the sale of our products; our 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
and GenSys 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 both GenDrive
and GenSys; competitive factors, such as price competition and
competition from other traditional and alternative energy
companies; our ability to manufacture products on a large-scale
commercial basis; our ability to protect our intellectual property;
the cost of complying with current and future governmental
regulations; the impact of deregulation and restructuring of the
electric utility industry on demand for Plug Power's energy
products; and other risks and uncertainties discussed under "Item
IA-Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2009, filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 16, 2010, and the reports we
file from time to time with the SEC. We do not intend to and
undertake no duty to update the information contained in this
communication.
CONTACT: Plug Power Inc.
Media Contact:
Reid Hislop
(518) 782-7700 ext. 1360
Investor Relations Contact:
Cathy Yudzevich
(518) 782-7700 ext. 1448
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