Fuel cells and Hydrogen Economy - Plug focus stays on telecom sector, but eye is on residential market>/title>  <meta name="description" content="Plug focus stays on telecom sector, but eye is on residential market"> <meta name="keywords" content="Fuel Cells, Hydrogen, Hydrogen Economy, green energy, hydrogen cars"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">  <script language="JavaScript" type="text/JavaScript">  </script> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <style type="text/css">  </style> </head> <body bgcolor="#666666" text="#000000" link="#006600" vlink="#999999" alink="#006600"> <table width="100%" border="1"> <tr> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <table width="100%" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding=" "> <tr> <td width="29%" height="134" valign="middle" bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <div align="center"><strong><font color="#990000" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br> <a href="../../../ebooks/investingfuelcellshydrogeneconomy.htm"><img src="../../../Images/book/bookad1.png" width="122" height="144" border="0"></a> <br> <br> </font></strong></div></td> <td width="43%"><p align="center"><font color="#000000" size="6" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">FuelCellStocks.Com</font><font color="#000000" size="7" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br> </font><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em><font size="4">Investing in Fuel Cells and the Hydrogen Economy</font></em></font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Fuel Cell Stocks News </font></p> </td> <td width="28%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <p><font color="#003300" face="Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif"><strong>Top Ten Reasons <br> to Invest Now in Fuel Cells and <br> the Hydrogen Economy</strong></font></p> <p><a href="../../../ebooks/investingfuelcellshydrogeneconomy.htm">Click Here</a></p></td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="5" bordercolor="#006600" bgcolor="#669966"> <tr> <td width="16%"><div align="center"><a href="../../../fuelcellstocks.htm" class="unnamed1">Fuel Cells Stocks</a></div></td> <td width="16%" height="23"> <div align="center"><a href="../../../fuelcellvehicles/hydrogencars.htm" class="unnamed1">Hydrogen Cars</a></div></td> <td width="15%"><div align="center"><a href="http://www.fuelcellstocks.com/fuelcellnews.htm" class="unnamed1">Fuel Cells News</a></div></td> <td width="16%"><div align="center"><a href="http://www.fuelcellstocks.com/fuelcellarticles.htm" class="unnamed1">Fuel Cells Articles</a></div></td> <td width="14%"><div align="center"><a href="../../../fuelcells.htm" class="unnamed1">About Fuel Cells</a></div></td> <td width="15%"><div align="center"><a href="../../../hydrogeneconomy.htm" class="unnamed1"> Hydrogen Economy</a></div></td> <td width="7%"><div align="center"><a href="../../../index.htm" class="unnamed1">Home</a></div></td> </tr> </table> <p align="left">May 4, 2006</p> <p align="left"><strong>Plug focus stays on telecom sector, but eye is on residential market</strong></p> <p align="left">Source: <a href="http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2006/05/01/story5.html?t=printable">The Business Review</a><br> The Business Review (Albany) - April 28, 2006by Richard A. D'ErricoThe Business Review<br> When Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUG) started nine years ago, the fuel-cell developer planned to create an energy system to power homes. </p> <p>But CEO Roger Saillant said just months after joining the company in 2001 that he didn't use one of the company's home units. </p> <p>"Not yet," Saillant said then. "I'd use them in a heart beat when they meet the standards that we feel the ultimate market requires. I think they're too big. I think they're too heavy. I think they're too expensive. But you have to understand, I have pretty tough standards. But so do our customers." </p> <p>Saillant talks straight, even if it's not what investors want to hear. </p> <p>A 'transformational' event <br> Plug stopped making and selling the home unit, and has successfully shifted its focus to the telecommunications industry, developing backup power systems for cell-tower sites. The company more than tripled the number of orders, from 94 in 2004 to 306 in 2005, for its GenCore 5-kilowatt unit. Plug expects to sell a total of 500 to 750 fuel-cell systems this year. </p> <p>Plug reduced the direct materials cost of its GenCore unit by 29 percent in 2005. That progress has drawn the attention of two Russian companies--Interros and Norilsk Nickel--that plan to invest $217 million in Plug, which lost $51.7 million last year. </p> <p>Greg Silvestri, Plug's chief operating officer, said the investment will accelerate sales. </p> <p>"We think this has a big possible boost to our commercial sales effort, helping us gain access to meaningful markets in and out of Russia, where these partners have some influence," he said. "That's a definite." </p> <p>Now, Saillant is telling investors something they're happy to hear. </p> <p>"We've demonstrated the move from technology to placing it with customers at reasonable costs," Saillant said. "That's something other companies that are in our space haven't been able to do." </p> <p>He said the $217 million investment "validates how much of a lead we have," and called the investment "transformational." </p> <p>'Interesting and challenging' <br> Rich Romer, Plug's director of sales, joined the company six years ago. </p> <p>"The company really transitioned from an R&D company to a product-focused company to a company that's now customer-focused. That's a pretty quick transition," he said. </p> <p>Romer worked as a product manager at Saint Gobain's plastics division in Hoosick Falls when he left to join Plug. </p> <p>He said he was attracted by the environmentally friendly aspects of fuel cells, which convert hydrogen, or any other hydrocarbon, into energy through an electrochemical process--not through combustion. </p> <p>Romer said he liked having an "opportunity to change the way people view the energy infrastructure." </p> <p>When Romer started, the company was focused on its home unit, and sold more than 300 of the systems. </p> <p>The unit allowed potential customers and potential Plug partners to get comfortable with the concept of fuel-cell systems and gave Plug a chance to monitor systems in the field. </p> <p>Romer said as the technology development progresses, costs associated with the systems come down, making it easier for Plug to pitch to potential customers that the system will save them money in the long run. </p> <p>Plug is developing a new unit, fueled by propane, for telecommunication providers that will be able to supply primary power if there is a power outage or other problem on the grid. The systems would need refueling monthly. </p> <p>"We're working on a system that will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week as long as there's fuel," Romer said. </p> <p>Verizon and BellSouth have used the systems during blackouts. </p> <p>"It is interesting and challenging selling a new product into a new market," Romer said. </p> <p>He also said home units are still in the company's sights. </p> <p>"If you look out in time, Plug Power is still looking at the residential market," Romer said. "We look for markets along the way where we can use technology to sell products and become profitable and build a customer base." </p> <p>And the telecommunications sector is the vehicle to get there, said Cynthia Mahoney White, Plug spokeswoman. </p> <p>"We would not have survived as a company," she said, "if we had not changed our business strategy." </p> <p>rderrico@bizjournals.com | 518-640-6807</p> <p></p> <p align="left"><strong> </strong></p> </td> </tr> </table> <div align="center"><font color="#006600" size="4"><br> <font color="#FFFFCC">© FuelCellStocks.Com 2003-2006</font></font></div> </body> </html>