Finance Obligation - Other information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022	Sep. 30, 2021
Finance Obligation
Cash payments (in thousands)	$ 51,609	$ 41,325
Weighted average remaining term (years)	4 years 10 months 9 days	4 years 10 months 17 days
Weighted average discount rate	11.10%	11.30%

Weighted average remaining lease term for finance obligation, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

No definition available.

Name:	plug_FinanceObligationsWeightedAverageRemainingTerm
Namespace Prefix:	plug_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant