Plug Power Inc (PLUG)

[WeTheMarket]

Steve, I think that Andy would very politely prove the presenter wrong. I believe the presenter was biased against hydrogen. I posted the same slides on the FuelCell Energy (FCEL) board, and a poster there (Maximilliano) pointed out that his 70% electrolyzer efficiency in the 1st slide was inaccurate, and gave the following quote (Source: May 4, 2021 FuelCell Energy Press Release U.S. Department of Energy Awards FuelCell Energy an Additional $8 Million in Funding For its Differentiated Solid Oxide Platform)

"Under the program, the Company has built and is operating a SOEC system capable of producing up to 20 kg/day of hydrogen. The test operation has thus far demonstrated an electrical efficiency above 90% and identified opportunities for increasing efficiency to 100% with incorporation of external thermal heat energy."

I myself noted misleading information in his presentation.

For example, in the second slide, he uses 2019 wind and solar data, and compares it to today's hydrogen needs. As of January of this year, the world had already installed over 1 TW of solar capacity, thus, assuming 10 hrs a day of sunshine, gives ~4,000 TWh annually vs. the 700 TWh he quotes in slide 2. Wind has likely undergone a similar increase, reducing the validity of his point in slide 2 of insufficient renewable energy to support a hydrogen economy.

In slide 6, where he compares the Toyota Mirai hydrogen FCEV to a Tesla, he mentions on the side of the slide that a hydrogen car refuels faster, but then he says "if there is a hydrogen station on your route." What does the lack of a hydrogen infrastructure have to do with the viability of hydrogen in transportation? In the following slides, for heavy transportation using trucks, where the difference in refueling times becomes more significant, 10-15 minutes for hydrogen FCEV vs. hours for battery EV Class 8 trucks, he does not mention it at all.

His main point is that hydrogen is only practical for a niche (i.e., small) market. You could have said the same thing in the early days of Tesla, tailored to only the high end very expensive luxury/sport cars. And currently, battery EVs still represent only 2-3% of the overall market, thus, they are not that far ahead of hydrogen EVs.

To put it in another way, for him to be right (as well as Elon Musk), a lot of other very smart people would have to be wrong.