Plug Power's headcount more than doubled over the past two years, surging to more than 1,400, as the fuel cell maker expands beyond forklifts into trucks, commuter planes, backup power and hydrogen-producing electrolyzers.
The Latham manufacturer's companywide payroll grew from 685 at the end of 2018 to 1,442 this month. And the company has another 240 openings for engineers, data scientists, warehouse workers, purchasing staff and field technicians.
The majority of the hiring spree occurred over the past year as demand grew for forklift-powering fuel cells that Walmart, Amazon and Kroger use to move product around distribution centers. Now, Plug is expanding into new applications, using fuel cells to power everything from delivery trucks to data centers.
"I think the material handling business will be the cash cow for Plug Power for many years," chief executive Andy Marsh said this week.
The gross margin for the sale of fuel cells and hydrogen fueling systems grew from 21% to nearly 35% between 2018 and 2019, before taking a hit last year due to an accelerated vesting of stock warrants stemming from an agreement with Amazon.
As Plug creates new markets for its hydrogen fuel cells, Marsh sees another another big opportunity to increase billings, which are projected to reach $475 million this year and $750 million in 2022.
The sale of electrolyzers could be the next big revenue generator, Marsh said. Electrolyzers will allow customers to produce what Plug describes as clean or green hydrogen using electricity.
Marsh points to the European Union's goal of having enough electrolyzers installed to produce 40 gigawatts of hydrogen by 2030. North Africa has a similar goal.
Then, factor in the growing demand for renewable hydrogen in the United States, he said.
"That has the potential to be bigger than material handling," Marsh said of the electrolyzer business.
Plug made a big push into electrolyzers in June, when the company bought Giner Elx of Newton, Massachusetts, for $58 million in a transaction involving cash, stock and future earnings.
Another large potential market will involve using Plug fuel cells for large stationary power projects, such as backup power for factories, distribution centers and data centers, Marsh said.
That will be a large part of the focus of Plug's joint venture with energy and chemical giant SK Group. The South Korean conglomerate invested $1.5 billion and took a 9.9% stake in Plug in January as the two companies partner on a business that will open a sales pipeline in China, South Korea and Vietnam.
Plug currently has nine people working with SK Group in South Korea to finalize the joint venture by the end of the third quarter. A separate joint venture to produce fuel cell-powered commercial trucks with Group Renault of France could be completed in the next six weeks.
Those efforts are in the works as Plug gets ready to build hydrogen generation plants in New York, Pennsylvania and Texas. Construction could begin by the end of the year or early in the first quarter of 2022.
Meanwhile, Plug is racing to open a $125 million factory in suburban Rochester that will be capable of producing 60,000 fuel cell stacks and 500 electrolyzers per year. The conversion of the former Alstom signaling plant is wrapping up and production is expected to begin in August.
The 155,000-square-foot plant will be fully operational by the end of the year.
All of those moves are fueling the need for more workers, Marsh said.
And it comes as Plug races to increase its capacity to produce more hydrogen using solar, wind and hydroelectric sources.
"The availability of hydrogen will drive all of the applications," Marsh said. "Without hydrogen, especially green hydrogen, it's tough to grow the fuel cell business."
He remains bullish that demand for hydrogen powered fuel cells will continue to grow.
UK, in the most recent conference call Andy said greater than 60 new sites this year, thus, not due to turnover. Furthermore, in the even more recent interview with Jim Cramer, Andy said that he expects to announce 10 new customers before the end of the year. I am hoping for announcements of new customers to start rolling out in the near future.
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