GenKey Success with Walmart
Since GenKey’s inception in early 2014, its value proposition has been proven for many of our material handling customers, including Walmart. Plug Power’s GenKey solution packages all elements of a high-performance hydrogen fuel cell implementation together in one bundle for easy adoption: GenDrive fuel cell units, GenFuel hydrogen and fueling infrastructure, and GenCare service.
GenKey has enabled customers like Walmart to realize powerful benefits, including:
- Increased Productivity
- Lower Operational Costs
- Reduced Site Emissions
- Greater Production Space
- Significantly Reduced Peak Power Demand
On paper, the solution is great. But it’s really when we see a satisfied customer like Walmart make ongoing investments to convert its material handling fleets to GenKey hydrogen and fuel cells, at one distribution center after another, that we fully understand the successful impact our product is having on North America’s leading retailer.
Plug Power’s relationship with Walmart goes way back, and they’ve helped us down the path to commercial viability. Our first GenDrive units for material handling reach trucks were tested by Walmart. Our first thermal testing was done with Walmart as we fine-tuned running our products at refrigerated warehouses with temperatures that ranged from -25 degrees in freezers to 85 degrees outdoors.
In 2013, Plug Power had close to 500 GenDrive units deployed at Walmart sites. It became evident that we needed to move beyond offering only our fuel cell solution. This push was the genesis of Plug Power’s GenKey package, which became available in early 2014.
Plug Power finalized its initial GenKey contract with Walmart in 2014. Walmart invested in GenKey for six of its North American DCs. This covered delivery of more than 1,700 GenDrive units, construction of six GenFuel infrastructure foundations, and provision of a six-year GenCare service agreement.
This order was quickly followed up with orders for additional sites to be converted over to the GenKey solution in 2014. And, in 2015 with Walmart continuing to appreciate the proven benefits of its GenKey hydrogen fuel cell deployments, the company has 
contracted with Plug Power for even more sites, not just in the United States, but in Canada as well.
Walmart is clearly a steady customer for GenKey orders, GenDrive shipments and GenFuel installs at multiple sites. In total we expect to deploy eight to ten full GenKey sites for Walmart this year, and to move forward with further expansion in 2016. Today, Walmart has deployed more than 2,500 GenDrive units, 10 GenFuel infrastructures, and 50 GenFuel dispensers across North America.
But why does Walmart buy Plug Power’s hydrogen and fuel cell solutions? It’s simple – we help them save time and money. Our products enable operators to be on the floor longer doing productive tasks. And during the time they are on the floor they are more efficient, because our hydrogen fuel cells allow their lift trucks to have constant power. All these benefits save Walmart time and money.
Currently, Plug Power’s solutions are operational at the following Walmart distribution warehouse sites:
- Johnstown, NY
- Pottsville, PA
- Bedford, PA
- Sterling, IL
- Wintersville, OH
- Mankato, MN
- Gas City, IN
- Balzac, Alberta, Canada
- Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
And, the steady work continues. Plug Power is currently deploying the GenKey solution in New Caney, TX where 330 GenDrive units will power the entire lift truck fleet. The site is expected to go-live during the third quarter.
We value our opportunity to provide Walmart warehouse facilities with viable hydrogen and fuel cell solutions that are helping to improve business operations, increase production efficiencies, and bring sustainable power to the industry. Walmart’s continual GenKey adoption is not only a validation of our value proposition, but a validation of our technology.
POWERAhead