Telefonica Moviles to Deploy Plug Power Fuel Cells in Venezuela

Telefonica Moviles to Deploy Plug Power Fuel Cells in Venezuela
Monday July 17, 6:59 am ET


LATHAM, N.Y., July 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Plug Power Inc.
(Nasdaq: PLUG - News), a leader in providing clean, reliable on-site
energy products, announced that Telefonica Moviles, one of the two
largest wireless providers in Latin America, will begin deploying Plug
Power's GenCore® backup power systems in Venezuela.
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The initial deployment includes nine backup fuel cell systems that were
purchased through Plug Power's Venezuelan distributor Corpo
Teletecnical. The systems will be placed at tower locations with
critical backup needs in the greater Caracas area. This new deployment
follows the completion of a successful eight-month trial at an active
Telefonica Moviles wireless location outside of Caracas. The GenCore
system responded effectively to several grid outages during the trial
period, including one that lasted approximately 12 hours, providing
power and maintaining tower operation when the AC grid failed due to
overloading and weather-related factors.

Telefonica Moviles has approximately 700 towers in Venezuela and more
than 10,000 sites across Central and South America. Richard Croce,
Energy Manager of Telefonica Moviles in Venezuela identifies candidate
sites for GenCore use as those where there is insufficient space for
additional batteries or a generator, or where generators are prohibited
due to noise or pollution issues or weight restrictions. Additional
opportunities are expected to emerge as Telefonica Moviles continues to
identify sites where traditional backup infrastructure frequently fails
due to extreme weather conditions and an unstable electric grid.

According to Croce, "Telefonica is clearly the leader in network
reliability while reducing our environmental impact across the network.
We chose Plug Power's fuel cell backup power technology over additional
investment in batteries and generators due to GenCore's robust
reliability and clean, quiet operation. We believe GenCore clearly
represents the next step in evolution of network reliability, and we
look forward to further deployment of GenCore systems in the Venezuelan
network."

"We are glad to count Telefonica, a global leader in
telecommunications, as a Plug Power customer," said Mark Sperry, Plug
Power's Chief Marketing Officer. "Plug Power is equipping
telecommunications service providers with the technology to improve the
reliability of their networks and their customers' experience, while
reducing customer churn and revenue losses due to failure of
traditional backup energy infrastructure."

Plug Power is also participating in GenCore trials with Telefonica
Moviles in other key markets including Mexico, Brazil and Spain.
Product trials in Mexico and Brazil are being conducted with Plug
Power's distribution partner Tyco Electronics Power Systems.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc. is an established leader in the deployment of clean,
reliable on-site energy products. More than 650 Plug Power fuel cell
systems have been delivered to customers worldwide in commercial,
public sector, telecommunications, utility and uninterruptible power
supply markets. For more information about how to join Plug Power's
energy revolution as an investor, customer, supplier or strategic
partner, please visit http://www.plugpower.com.

About Corpo Teletecnical / Enerseg

Corpo Teletecnical and Corporacion Enerseg are a contractor joint
venture based in Caracas, Venezuela. These companies are highly focused
in the telecom market providing construction and maintenance services
for telecom sites, including modern backup energy systems like the
GenCore fuel cell system, as well as traditional backup energy
infrastructure such as generators, rectifiers and batteries. Corpo
Teletecnical and Corporacion Enerseg are the authorized Plug Power
distributors and service providers in Venezuela.

About Telefonica Moviles

Telefonica Moviles is the wireless division of Telefonica S.A.
Telefonica S.A. is the leading telecommunications operator in the
Spanish and Portuguese speaking world and the second-largest European
operator in terms of stock market capitalization. Telefonica provides a
complete range of communications services which includes fixed
telephony, mobile telephony, data transmission and added-value
services, business services, internet access, directories, CRM services
and content. Telefonica has more than 100 million customers. The
Company has a presence in 50 countries including target markets such as
Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala,
USA/Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Germany, Italy, Switzerland,
United Kingdom and Morocco.

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