Plug, MTI receive federal stimulus funds - The Business Review (Albany):

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million in federal stimulus funding throughthe U.S. Departmentt of Energy to further test or commercializ e theirlatest technologies. Plug (Nasdaq: PLUG) receivedr more than $6 $3.4 million of which will be used to testits 5-kilowatt heat and power GenSys fuel-cell system in southerh California over a three-year period. The unitsx are designed to replace traditional furnacesand boilers. They will be tested for residentialand light-industrial use in conjunction with and the at the . The compangy was awarded $2.7 million to test its 275-kilowattg GenCore backup power systems at locations arounxthe country. Additionally, the DOE awardedr more than $9.
7 million for nine projectw that will install 304of Plug’d GenDrive systems in warehousesd and distribution centers in Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. Tony Troutt, Plug Power’s director of said the awards are significant becausde the companies could choose the systems they and theychose GenDrive. The exposure is expected to trigger more sales of the Troutt said. Plug’s GenDrive fuel-cells system, which eliminateas the need for lead-acid batteries by using hydrogejn gas, is the company’s revenue generator. Centralk Grocers, a Joliet, Ill., grocery chain, recently bought 220 of the systems for its electricforklift trucks.
MTI a subsidiary of (Nasdaq: MKTY), was awardes $2.4 million to further develop and commercializw itsMobion technology. The portabld power sources convert methanolinto electricity. MTI Micrpo also just received an $800,000 bridge loan commitmenty from an investor group managef byWalter Robb, who sits on MTI’ws board of directors, said Pen Lim, MTI’s president and CEO. MTI no longee funds its MTI Micro division, which has not commercialized a product. It’s the third time in receng monthsthat Robb’s group invested in MTI The group made bridge loans in February and September 2008 of $500,000 and $2.4 respectively.
Robb also is the owner of the hockeu team and is interim CEOof , a resinw manufacturer located in Schenectady. MTI posted a $12.5 milliobn loss in 2008. On April 6, it delisted itself from the NasdaCapital Market. Beginning around Apri 24, shares for company will be quoted on the OTC BulletijnBoard and/or the Pink Sheets, a centralized electronic quotation service. Plug Power posted a $121.7y million loss last year. To generate cash, the companty put its 34-acre Latham headquarters on the marke t earlier this monthfor $10 million.