OREANDA-NEWS. On July 11-12, 2007 a meeting of the Board of Directors of Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), an established leader in the development and deployment of clean, reliable, on-site energy products, took place, reported the press-centre of Interros.

For the first time in the company’s history this meeting was held in Moscow, Russia.

In June 2006 Interros group entered into an agreement to purchase a 35 percent stake holding in the American company Plug Power Inc. To realize this agreement, Smart Hydrogen was founded by Interros and MMC Norilsk Nickel.

The Smart Hydrogen investment expanded the financial opportunities for Plug Power Inc. allowing to strengthen its management team and accelerate promotion of its first commercial fuel cell product GenCore. GenCore products provide fuel cell technology into backup power systems for telecommunications, utility and uninterruptible power supply applications.

The Smart Hydrogen investment has also allowed Plug Power to diversify the Plug Power product portfolio adding new revenue streams from other large potential markets. In particular, in April and May, 2007 Plug Power acquired two Canadian companies: Cellex Power Products Inc., and General Hydrogen.

Cellex Power was a world leader in developing and commercializing fuel cell solutions for lift trucks and other material handling equipment. Cellex Power fuel cell solutions replace the industrial lead acid battery system used today in powering lift truck fleets in large-scale distribution centers.

General Hydrogen, another world leader in development and commercialization of fuel cell solution for lift trucks and material handling equipment, is located in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada within close proximity to Cellex Power. Plug Power is integrating the two companies into one operation.

By acquiring both General Hydrogen and Cellex Power, clear leaders in their industry, Plug Power Inc. expects to realize significant technology and operational synergies as they pursue high-value applications in the material handling market. Plug Power has positioned itself to engage both telecommunications and material handling as attractive near-term markets and central components of the Company’s revenue growth strategy. Furthermore, Plug Power Inc. anticipates that higher volume commercial product manufacturing activities for lift truck fuel cells will be established in Plug Power’s Latham, N.Y. facility.

Use of fuel cell products in lift truck and material handling applications allows lift trucks to operate at highest productivity and speed during all periods of operation. Significant cost savings are realized by freeing up warehouse areas used for storage and charging of spare batteries. Lift truck fuel cell systems also enable reductions in working personnel that are currently required to charge and maintain the warehouse lift truck batteries. Wallmart, Sysco, and a number of other large distribution companies with high volume warehouses have already shown significant interest in lift truck fuel cell systems to maximize warehouse lift truck and material handling productivity.

Coincident with the acquisition of General Hydrogen, Plug Power entered into a two-year agreement with Ballard Power Systems Inc. for the purchase of fuel cell stacks for Plug Power’s commercial needs with respect to electric lift truck applications, replacing the previous agreement between General Hydrogen and Ballard. The General Hydrogen and Cellex Power products were designed around the Ballard stack and have generated tens of thousands of operating hours to validate reliability and performance. Under the new agreement, Plug Power and Ballard will work together to drive reliable, low-cost solutions that are expected to significantly improve the outlook for fuel cell commercialization of material handling applications.

With the Cellex Power and General Hydrogen acquisitions, Plug Power has positioned itself to engage both telecommunications and material handling as attractive near-term markets and central components of the Company’s revenue growth strategy.

The Smart Hydrogen investment has also expedited the promotion and commercialization of Plug Power fuel cell systems in the Russian market. In March 2006, the Interros Company signed an agreement on a strategic partnership with JSC " Russian railways " agreeing to collaborate in areas of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies for use in railway transportation infrastructure. Other activities of this partnership include Russia certification of the GenCore Fuel Cell System in Russian. Planning for demonstration projects with Plug Power fuel cell systems is actively in progress.

Lastly, the Russian – American partnership has facilitated scientific and technical cooperation between Plug Power and " National innovative company " New energy projects " on a set of programs approved in October, 2006 under a Strategic Partner Agreement signed between the companies in September 2006.

According to Sergey Batekhin, Managing Director of Interros, and a member of the Plug Power Board of Directors, “Interros is traditionally interested in projects of scale in the field of alternative energy. Cooperation with Plug Power will make the world markets of hydrogen power assessable for Russian domestic products and development. Within the frame of the given project, Interros together with the Russian Academy of Science is prepared to widely introduce advanced technologies of hydrogen power in Russia. Our Company intents to launch manufacturing of these hi-tech products and to insure their advancement to the Russian and world markets.”

About Plug Power
Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), an established leader in the development and deployment of clean, reliable, on-site energy products, currently integrates fuel cell technology into backup power products for telecommunications, utility and uninterruptible power supply applications, as well as motive power products for material handling applications. The Company is actively engaged with private and public customers in targeted markets throughout the world, including North America, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, South Africa and South America. For more information about how to join Plug Power’s energy revolution as an investor, customer, supplier or strategic partner, please visit www.plugpower.com.