- The appointment of Benjamin Haycraft to this strategic position confirms Plug Power’s ambition to accelerate its development in Europe.
LATHAM, N.Y. and BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France — Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), a leading provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions for the global green hydrogen economy, announces Benjamin Haycraft as the Company’s newest Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Europe. This appointment confirms Plug Power’s desire to accelerate its development opportunities in Europe.
Before joining Plug Power, Benjamin Haycraft advised the Company as a Santander banker, resulting in the announcement of the joint-venture projects at the start of 2021 with European leaders including the Renault Group in France and Acciona in the Iberian Peninsula. Located in France, Benjamin Haycraft will be responsible for executing the European Plug Power strategy, sourcing external growth opportunities, acting as a commercial interface between Plug Power and its partners, and deploying green hydrogen generation and distribution infrastructure on a large scale across Europe.
Plug Power has been providing hydrogen and fuel cell solutions in Europe for more than 10 years often in partnership with key European companies like Carrefour, IKEA, BMW and GAUSSIN. Plug Power has strong development ambitions in Europe and is aligned to significantly strengthen its presence in the coming months in fuel cell-powered on-road commercial mobility, green hydrogen generation and distribution, and large-scale electrolyzer markets.
Mr. Haycraft will report to Sanjay Shrestha, Chief Strategy Officer at Plug Power and general manager of the Energy Solutions division. “It’s undeniable. Europe will play a key role in the emergence of a green hydrogen economy,” said Mr. Shrestha. “I am delighted for Benjamin to join the Plug Power team. I believe he has already seen first-hand that Plug Power is unique because it can connect the entire hydrogen value chain to deploy turnkey and competitive solutions today. His strategic skill set will only help open doors to further European commercialization.”
On the back of a broad international experience (New York, Madrid, Paris), Benjamin Haycraft had recently taken on the responsibility of the ESG Corporate Finance group for the Santander Bank, after having built the bank’s expertise on hydrogen over the past three years. He has spent more than ten years in finance and investment banks and focused on clean mobility and renewable energy topics.
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