 Colruyt Group's distribution centre |
European supermarket leader Colruyt Group has adopted Plug Power's GenDrive fuel cell system.
Colruyt will use 200 GenDrive units in its Halle, Belgium facility. The units will be rolled out in two phases: 75 units in phase one and 125 in phase two.
Colruyt, which operates a chain of supermarkets in Belgium and France, has a strong focus on sustainability, which includes optimising its operations and collaborating with others in its supply chain to minimise its impact on the environment.
Adoption of the GenDrive fuel cell solution enhances this initiative, with claims that Colruyt will increase efficiency of its workers, in a safer environment by removing lead-acid batteries from the work place.
GenDrive is powered by clean hydrogen fuel, generating only heat and water as byproducts.
"Already for many years, sustainable entrepreneurship has been embedded in the Colruyt Group's DNA as an essential part of our business culture," says Jonas Cautaerts, project engineer - energy and environment. "We aim to set a positive spiral in motion from an economic perspective but also to create added value in the social and ecological field. Step by step, bit by bit, we are making progress, although we realise that this is an ongoing process. Hydrogen is one of the many projects we have developed to reduce our ecological impact."
Meanwhile, Plug Power has launched a new Series 3000 product, the GenDrive 3340 fuel cell. The GenDrive 3340 is designed for pallet jack electric trucks.
The unit is designed around Plug Power's air-cooled fuel cell stack and provides constant voltage, resulting in less wear and tear on the truck's electronics, reducing the need for service and maximising uptime.
The fuel cells have proven themselves in all warehouse and distribution centre conditions, and, unlike lead acid batteries, perform especially well in extreme conditions such as cold storage facilities.
Plug Power is currently building the first production units to ship to customers in the fourth quarter of 2015. The units are being manufactured in the company's Latham facility.