Green hydrogen supplier and fuel cell manufacturer Plug Power has signed a supply deal with logistics conglomerate Amazon to provide 11,000t/yr liquid green hydrogen from 2025.

Amazon is looking to use green hydrogen to replace its grey hydrogen and diesel use, particularly in its forklifts and heavy-duty trucks.

“Amazon is proud to be an early adopter of green hydrogen given its potential to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors like long-haul trucking, steel manufacturing, aviation and ocean shipping,” says Kara Hurst, vice-president of worldwide sustainability at Amazon.

Plug Power has already worked with Amazon to deploy more than 15,000 fuel cells to replace batteries in forklifts across 70 warehouses. And the logistics giant plans to grow that number to 20,000 fuel-cell-propelled forklifts across 100 warehouses by 2025.

“Landing a green hydrogen supply deal with a customer like Amazon validates our multi-year investment and strategic expansion into green hydrogen” Marsh, Plug Power

“That’s just the start,” says Dean Fullerton, vice-president of global engineering and security services at Amazon. “We’re exploring and testing the use of other hydrogen applications, such as fuel-cell electric trucks and fuel-cell power generation stations providing electricity to Amazon buildings.”

Amazon has set a target to reach net zero across its businesses by 2040. The firm plans to achieve the pledge by powering its operations with 100pc renewable energy by 2025.

Plugging in supply

This deal with Amazon marks a growth opportunity for Plug, which now expects to achieve its 2025 revenue goal of $3bn as a result.

“Landing a green hydrogen supply deal with a customer like Amazon validates our multi-year investment and strategic expansion into green hydrogen,” says Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power

“By building a complete hydrogen ecosystem from molecule to applications combined with a resilient network of green hydrogen plants around the world, we have made hydrogen adoption easy.”

Plug Power says it remains on track to produce 500t/d in North America by 2025, and 1,000t/d globally by 2028.

Hydrogen can be stored and delivered in liquid or hydrogen form. Most car manufacturers have opted for the solution that consists of storing hydrogen in its gaseous form at high pressure, but some such as Daimler are now developing vehicles that run on liquid hydrogen directly.

Air Liquide is developing the largest ever liquefaction plant dedicated to mobility markets in California. The plant will produce 30t/d of liquid hydrogen.

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Author: Tom Young