TIDMEQT
RNS Number : 1760T
EQTEC PLC
20 July 2022
20 July 2022
EQTEC plc
("EQTEC", the "Company" or the "Group")
Favourable Court Ruling toward Acquisition of Mixed Feedstock
Market Development Centre for France
EQTEC plc (AIM: EQT), a world-leading technology innovation
company enabling the Net Zero Future through advanced solutions for
hydrogen, biofuels, SNG and other energy production, is pleased to
announce that its wholly owned French subsidiary, EQTEC France SAS
("EQTEC France") has acquired, subject to final approval, and
intends to upgrade and recommission a 6.5 MWe waste-to-energy
gasification plant in Villers-sous-Montrond, France (the "Plant").
The Plant, once operational, will transform c. 45,000 tonnes of
mixed waste wood and refuse-derived fuel ("RDF") to export clean
electricity to the national grid.
The Company intends that the Plant become the EQTEC Market
Development Centre ("MDC") for France ("France MDC"), to showcase
EQTEC's capabilities with variable feedstock, including a mixture
of Grade A waste wood, Grade B waste wood and RDF, all to be used
continuously at the Plant. The Plant, which originally benefitted
from c. EUR35 million of investment, will be acquired by the
Company at a nominal value, as it has been estimated that further
investment of c. EUR30 million is required to recommission the
plant utilising EQTEC's technology. It is believed to require only
replacement of the previous technology with EQTEC technology and a
small amount of other equipment. EQTEC expects an accelerated
construction and commissioning schedule once full acquisition of
the Plant has been achieved. Expressions of interest for the full
funding required including Letters of Intent (the "LoIs") from
institutional infrastructure investors have been received for the
project. Construction is expected to commence in Q1 2023.
The Plant was originally developed by Group Bonnefoy
("Bonnefoy") on Bonnefoy's stone quarry site located at
Villers-sous-Montrond, near the Franco-Swiss border. The
gasification plant was designed using non-EQTEC technologies, but
the Plant was never fully commissioned, as the previous technology
did not successfully complete performance and endurance tests. The
previous project SPV, Synnov Déchets SAS ("Synnov") entered
bankruptcy in November 2021, after which EQTEC was approached as a
potential buyer.
Pursuant to EQTEC France's offer to acquire the Plant, a local
court ruling dated 13 July 2022 (the "Ruling") ordered the legal
transfer of negotiated contracts and tangible assets of Synnov to
EQTEC France, subject to final approval from the French Ministère
de l'économie, des finances et de l'industrie ("MINEFI"). Approvals
are scheduled for completion by the end of Q3 2022 (the
"Approvals").
Highlights:
-- The Plant, once operational, is expected to generate in
excess of EUR10 million in annual revenues, with further potential
to improve the economics of the Plant;
-- The Plant will process and transform a mixture of c. 45,000
tonnes of wood waste and RDF sourced and prepared by Bonnefoy Group
into 6.5 MWe of power for export to the national grid, with
potential to increase the amount of energy produced in the
future;
-- Pursuant to the Ruling, EQTEC may now commence full
engineering and design works and secure all relevant,
administrative authorisation and contracts toward financial close
with third-party investors;
-- EQTEC France has received two LoIs from two institutional
funders specialising in similar infrastructure investments; the
LoIs express interest by the potential funders in providing project
finance for the Plant, subject to customary due diligence;
-- The Company has received expressions of interest from two
French energy companies to potentially become owner-operators, once
the plant is successfully commissioned;
-- At financial close, all commercial requirements will have
been addressed, including feedstock supply, long-lease agreement
and agreement of a PPA tariff more favourable than that established
previously by Synnov;
-- Following commissioning of the Plant, EQTEC expects to act as
the technology supplier and O&M contractor;
-- Ownership of the project will be established through a new
SPV to be set up in France by EQTEC France SAS;
-- Pursuant to the Ruling and the Approvals, the assets of
Synnov would be transferred to EQTEC France, including the entirety
of the existing plant from the feeding-in system to the
grid-connected inverters, along with the existing environmental
permit and associated contracts including for the feed-in tariff
with EDF Obligation d'Achat ("EDF OA"); and
-- Prior to application to the courts for the Ruling, the
Company carried out a preliminary technical audit and legal due
diligence toward acquisition of the Plant from bankruptcy,
improvement of the Plant's business model, adaptation of the
technology process and recommissioning of it.
David Palumbo, CEO of EQTEC, commented:
"As expected, France is proving to be a very receptive market
for EQTEC technology solutions. We earlier this year announced our
partnership with SEPS for clean conversion of contaminated plastics
into a variety of valuable offtake applications and now we are
pleased to announce the France MDC. This project is special because
it will demonstrate EQTEC's capabilities with mixed feedstock,
including waste wood and RDF together. EQTEC's ability to handle
feedstock variability has always set us apart and this plant will
again demonstrate how we address one of the critical risks to
commercial syngas production. Additionally, we will have a Market
Development Centre in France that we can use to showcase the
technical and commercial performance of our plants and catalyse
further interest from project funders and owners-operators."
This announcement contains inside information as defined in
Article 7 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014, as it
forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European
Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended, and has been announced in
accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of that
Regulation.
ENQUIRIES
EQTEC plc +44 203 883 7009
David Palumbo / Nauman Babar
---------------------------
Strand Hanson - Nomad & Financial Adviser +44 20 7409 3494
---------------------------
James Harris / Richard Johnson
---------------------------
Arden Partners - Joint Broker +44 20 7614 5900
---------------------------
Ruari McGirr (Corporate) / Simon Johnson
(Sales)
---------------------------
Canaccord Genuity - Joint Broker +44 20 7523 8000
---------------------------
Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / Patrick Dolaghan
---------------------------
Alma PR - Financial Media & Investor
Relations +44 20 3405 0205
---------------------------
Josh Royston / Sam Modlin EQTEC@almapr.co.uk
---------------------------
+44 (0) 20 7457 2381 / +44
Instinctif - General Media Enquiries (0) 7887 884794
---------------------------
Chris Speight / Tim Field EQTEC@instinctif.com
---------------------------
About EQTEC plc
As one of the world's most experienced gasification technology
and engineering companies, with a growing track record of
delivering operational and commercial success for transforming
waste-to-energy through best-in-class technology innovation,
engineering and project development , EQTEC brings together design
innovation, project delivery discipline and solid commercial
experience to add momentum to the global energy transition. EQTEC's
proven, proprietary and patented technology is at the centre of
clean energy projects, sourcing local waste, championing local
businesses, creating local jobs and supporting the transition to
localised, decentralised and resilient energy systems.
EQTEC designs, supplies and builds advanced gasification
facilities in the UK, EU and US, with highly efficient equipment
that is modular and scalable from 1MW to 30MW. EQTEC's versatile
solutions process over 50 varieties of feedstock, including
forestry wood waste, vegetation and other agricultural waste from
farmers, industrial waste and sludge from factories and municipal
waste, all with no hazardous or toxic emissions. EQTEC's solutions
produce a pure, high-quality synthesis gas ("syngas") that can be
used for the widest range of applications, including the generation
of electricity and heat, production of synthetic natural gas
(through methanation) or biofuels (through Fischer-Tropsch,
gas-to-liquid processing) and reforming of hydrogen.
EQTEC's technology integration capabilities enable the Group to
lead collaborative ecosystems of qualified partners and to build
sustainable waste reduction and green energy infrastructure around
the world.
The Company is quoted on AIM (ticker: EQT) and the London Stock
Exchange has awarded EQTEC the Green Economy Mark, which recognises
listed companies with 50% or more of revenues from
environmental/green solutions.
Further information on the Company can be found at www.eqtec.com
.
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END
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July 20, 2022 08:02 ET (12:02 GMT)
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