The fuel cell industry has "no better friend" than Sen. Chuck Schumer and his transition to Senate leader means he will help introduce compelling legislation, Plug Power Inc PLUG CEO Andrew Marsh said Thursday on CNBC's "Mad Money."
What Happened: The Democrats will soon assume control of the U.S. Senate and the industry "couldn't be luckier" to have Schumer on its side, Marsh said. Democrats will be counted on to help implement more policies that will benefit the renewable energy sector as a whole.
"I think it's going to be a great time for the hydrogen fuel cell industry, and being a New York company, we couldn't be luckier to have such a great senator," Marsh said.
See Also: 7 'Blue Wave' ETFs To Buy Following Democrat Senate Victories
Why It's Important: President-elect Joe Biden made it clear his administration will prioritize renewable energy. Most notably, he wants renewables to produce carbon-free hydrogen at an equal cost of shale gas.
Plug Power has a path to achieve this objective under a Democrat government using electrolysis technology. Electrolysis is a way of splitting hydrogen and oxygen in water using electricity and can produce hydrogen out of renewable resources, according to CNBC.
"If you can have electricity at 4 cents a kilowatt-hour, leveraging electrolysis, you can generate hydrogen comparable with natural gas," Marsh said.
What's Next: Plug Power shares traded sharply higher Thursday after the company announced it intends to form a strategic partnership with SK Group to accelerate hydrogen economy expansion in Asian markets. Plug Power to receive $1.5 billion from SK Group.
Plug Power's expansion into South Korea as part of a deal with SK Group will help the company address what could be a $40 billion market by 2040.
"It's a big, big, huge opportunity," Marsh said.
Plug Power's stock traded around $51.21 per share at publication time. Shares traded around the lower $32 level just four days ago.
Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh. Courtesy photo.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
