Consumer packaged goods giant Procter & Gamble Co (P&G) is converting electric forklifts to Plug Power Inc's GenDrive fuel cell products at a manufacturing plant in Mehoopany, Pennsylvania.

Previously, P&G converted electric-powered forklifts to GenDrive fuel cell products at manufacturing facilities in Oxnard, California; Alexandria, Louisiana; and Greensboro, North Carolina.

For the four locations, P&G has committed to using more than 340 GenDrive units. P&G operates 32 production sites in the US and two in Canada.

P&G does not utilise fuel cells to power materials handling equipment in any of its 103 manufacturing plants outside North America.

"We will continue to evaluate our options and make the best business decision while considering sustainability as a key factor in those decisions," says Jeff LeRoy, P&G external relations manager.

"P&G is one of six Fortune 100 companies to convert multiple facilities to GenDrive fuel cells," says Andy Marsh, chief executive officer at Latham-based publicly traded Plug Power. "With this fourth site conversion, P&G will lessen its environmental impact while realising increased productivity, reduced operating costs and better predictability of its fleet performance."

Other key Plug Power accounts include retailer Wal Mart Stores Inc, food products distributor Sysco Corp and Daimler AG's automotive unit Mercedes-Benz US International. Plug Power has deployed more than 3,000 GenDrive units to materials handling customers with an accumulation of more than 8.5 million hours of runtime.

Cincinnati, Ohio-based P&G recorded profit of USD10.8 billion on 2011 sales of USD83.7 billion. P&G's two global business units focus on the beauty-grooming and household-care markets.