Wegmans Food Markets Inc is acquiring fuel cell-powered Crown Equipment Corp-manufactured materials handling units for use in the grocer's Pottsville retail service centre.
The equipment will replace lead-acid battery-powered units that Wegmans has leased primarily from Crown since opening the centre in 2004.
The Lancaster, Pennsylvania site of Crown-authorised dealership Lift Inc is supplying Wegmans with 50 Crown pallet trucks and nine Crown stand-up forklifts along with GenDrive fuel cell systems from Plug Power Inc of Latham, New York.
Phase One of the project targets the centre's produce handling facility, is scheduled to be operational in November and, for the forklifts and fuel cells, is budgeted to cost USD1.5 million.
Wegmans is weighing two hydrogen gas supply proposals and anticipates soon securing the services of one of those firms.
Wegmans plans to expand the centre's use of hydrogen fuel cell technology throughout 2011 and 2012 and anticipates eventually operating 150 fuel cell-powered vehicles there, according to an announcement from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The state agency awarded a grant of USD1,009,176 to Wegmans to partially offset the costs for installation of the on-site hydrogen infrastructure, including an outdoor hydrogen storage tank, underground piping and indoor dispensers for fueling the vehicles. PEDA says the project calls for private matching funds of USD6,213,691 from Wegmans and its suppliers.
PEDA says the project, through its third phase, will offset 4,064,445 kilowatts of energy over its lifetime, retain eight full-time positions and create 23 temporary, full-time jobs.
"This investment in fuel cell technology will help our employees, our business and our community," says Mike Cullen, Wegmans vice president of distribution planning. "It also underscores our growth and investment in our Pennsylvania operations." In addition to the centre, Wegmans operates 12 stores in Pennsylvania and has plans for three more.
Wegmans anticipates employees will benefit from better equipment performance. Now, the batteries start out with a full charge, but that dissipates over the course of a shift and reduces equipment efficiency. "Enabling employees to refuel quickly as needed gives them more control of their time and will improve their work environment," says David DeMascole, general manager of the Wegmans retail service centre in Pottsville.
Two existing buildings at the centre occupy 450,000 sqft (40,500 sqm) for produce and grocery warehousing. "In the next two years, the material handling in the grocery building will be evaluated for fuel cells," says DeMascole.
Wegmans contemplates constructing an adjacent multi-temperature warehouse of an undetermined size for refrigerated and frozen food storage. Currently, Wegmans brings refrigerated and frozen products to its Pennsylvania stores from its original warehouse in Rochester, New York.
DeMascole notes that the Pottsville service centre employs 320 now and, once the physical expansion is completed, may have 500 on staff.
PEDA, a state-created independent public financing authority, encourages and funds clean advanced-energy projects in Pennsylvania. In the current funding cycle, PEDA received a record 389 applications seeking more than USD400 million.
The award to Wegmans was among grants totaling USD20.7 million for 25 projects to reduce carbon emissions. Funding from the US American Recovery and Reinvestment Act accounts for USD10 million of the total. The public funding leverages another USD120 million in private matching funds, according to PEDA.
Family-owned Rochester-based Wegmans is a high-end 73-store supermarket chain with locations in New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland. The firm employs more than 37,000 staff and had 2008 sales of USD4.8 billion.