LATHAM, NY – Plug Power Inc. announced it will supply 161 GenDrive fuel cells to Kroger’s Co.’s food distribution center in Compton, Calif. The order includes four class-1 units for sit-down counterbalanced trucks, 42 class-2 units for reach trucks and 115 class-3 units for pallet trucks.

With this partnership, Kroger will power its fleet of electric lift trucks with GenDrive fuel cells. Because GenDrive is fueled with hydrogen, the only byproducts created through the electrochemical energy-conversion process are heat and water.

Plug Power and Kroger have developed a hydrogen fueling infrastructure, placing compact dispensers strategically throughout the facility. Lift truck operators can fuel the GenDrive units themselves in as little as 60 seconds. Once fueled, trucks resume activity on the facility floor, moving products. 

Plug Power also recently announced that forklifts in Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated's (CCBCC) Charlotte production center are now run on hydrogen fuel cells. 

Beginning in June, the nation's largest independent Coca-Cola bottler began using forklift trucks that run on green hydrogen. CCBCC is the first in the beverage industry to use hydrogen fuel-cell technology. The fleet of 35 Crown and five Yale counterbalanced class-1 lift trucks are powered by hydrogen fuel cells from Plug Power. The lift trucks are refueled at three indoor fueling stations with hydrogen from Linde North America.

"The hydrogen fuel cell solution has allowed us to achieve the high level of environmental sustainability that we've been looking for in our operations," said Bo Calloway, director of fleet operations at CCBCC. "Due to the high efficiency of the hydrogen fuel cells and the convenient location of the refueling stations in our plant, we expect to improve both our operating costs and our productivity. This innovative solution may serve as a model for industries seeking to improve productivity and environmental sustainability."