Hydrogen-powered fuel cell maker Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) sees green hydrogen made from water as the fuel of the future and has announced its plans to become the nation’s largest producer of hydrogen, as well as a builder of fuel cells for cars, trucks and stationery power.

Sanjay Shrestha, Plug Power | Plug Power

“We’re starting construction of three [hydrogen] plants this year: two with the nameplate capacity of 15 tons per day [and] and one with 45 tons per day,” Sanjay Shrestha, Plug Power chief strategy officer, told about 5,000 people who tuned in to the company’s third annual symposium held virtually Thursday.

The company plans to have 70 tons/day of capacity by the end of 2022, 200 by 2023 and “well on our way” to 500 by 2025, produced by 13 plants located across the U.S. on sites close to wind and solar installations, Shrestha said.

Currently less than 2% of the hydrogen used in the U.S. is made through the electrolysis of water and is very expensive. Most hydrogen used in industrial process and oil refining is made from “steam methane reforming,” a high-pressure, high-temperature process that also produces carbon dioxide.

Plug expects demand for green hydrogen to soar as governments and corporations chart new courses to lessen carbon dioxide emissions in efforts to avoid accelerating global climate change. The company thus sees opportunities in transportation and heavy industry, including refineries, where most of the hydrogen made from methane is used today. And it believes its hydrogen-powered fuel cells can serve as clean and quiet backup generators at huge data centers that are already trying to replace diesel generators with massive battery systems.

Shrestha said Plug envisions hydrogen being transported long distance via pipelines. “When we build this first-of-a-kind green hydrogen generation network, this will also help accelerate demand for many new fuel cell applications … because this will actually ensure that hydrogen is going to be available all the time.”

Plug’s planned rise as a major player in hydrogen and fuel cell generation will involve a number of mergers and acquisitions, moves that can make investors nervous. In just the past two weeks, the company announced mergers with or acquisitions of key companies crucial to transforming itself from a maker of small fuel cells for warehouse fork lifts into a global conglomerate producing both hydrogen and much larger fuel cells.

Just hours before the symposium began, the company announced it had signed a “definitive agreement” with Applied Cryo Technologies, a Houston-based maker of technology to transport, store and distribute liquefied hydrogen, as well as other industrial gases, at cryogenic temperatures.

During the symposium, the company unveiled a hydrogen fueled delivery van with a 300-mile range that Renault will begin manufacturing in 2022, using a Plug fuel cell.

Also Thursday, the company announced it had signed a letter of intent for a 50-50 joint venture with Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to build a large factory in Queensland, Australia, that will “produce large-scale proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, with the ability to expand into fuel cell systems and other hydrogen-related refueling and storage infrastructure in the future.

“Plug Power will supply the electrolyzer and fuel cell technology, and FFI will contribute advanced manufacturing capabilities. FFI will be the primary customer of the products manufactured by the joint venture, enabling its ambitions in decarbonizing its operations with stationary power and mobility applications running on green hydrogen,” Plug said in a press release.

On Wednesday, the day before the symposium, Plug announced deals with European aircraft contractor Airbus to study the use of the company’s fuel cells in aviation. Also, it announced that it had signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Phillips 66 “to collaborate on the development of low-carbon hydrogen business opportunities.”

Phillips operates 16 refineries in the U.S. and Europe and uses hydrogen in those operations. It also supplies gasoline to retail and wholesale markets.

Earlier in October, Plug announced it had formed a joint venture with SK E&S, part of South Korea’s SK Group, “designed to accelerate the use of hydrogen as an alternative energy source in Asian markets.”

“The two companies will collaborate to provide hydrogen fuel cell systems, hydrogen fueling stations, electrolyzers and green hydrogen to the Korean and other Asian markets,” Plug said in a release.

Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh | Plug Power

In what appeared to be a videotaped conversation with Plug CEO Andy Marsh, Ji Young Li, a senior vice president with SK, said the company was planning to spend $16.5 billion “to build a hydrogen eco system in South Korea by 2025.”

The company is investing $1.6 billion in the deal with Plug, she said. “And we thought that with [your] capability of integrating things, we thought that there would [a need for] new technologies going forward. We like the flexibility. That’s why we reached out to you.

“And I think the combination of our skill sets will position us in a unique manner. We’ll have all the technology available throughout the value chain starting with electrolyzers and fuel cells and refueling station solutions, and potentially liquid hydrogen as well,” she said.

Marsh concluded the symposium by asserting that “this company is building the green hydrogen highway. … And no one has made as many fuel cells that have to really work.”