World's first rare earth offshore wind processi...

7 July 2022

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

Pensana Plc

("Pensana" or the "Company")

Pensana Plc and Yorkshire Energy Park announce the world's first rare earth processing hub powered by offshore wind.

Pensana is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of intent securing private wire connection to battery storage operated by Yorkshire Energy Park under which it will have access to 4 MW rising to 10 MW of low carbon electricity for 10 years.

Pensana will use the low-cost and resilient supply of low-carbon electricity to power the Saltend separation facility and then later to power the conversion of NdPr Oxide into magnet metal, making it the first in the world to use offshore wind to produce ultra-low carbon magnet metal.

The Yorkshire Energy Park will include up to 200 MW of battery storage and is located adjacent to Pensana’s site within the Saltend Chemicals Park. The £200m next-generation energy facility will connect 7 GW of offshore wind to industrial consumers via large-scale batteries. The closest wind farm is the RWE-operated Humber Gateway located 32 kilometres from Saltend. 

Pensana Chairman Paul Atherley commented:

“Through the private wire connection to Yorkshire Energy Park, our aim is to become the world’s lowest carbon magnet metal producer, with Pensana becoming the first company globally to use offshore wind to produce ultra-low carbon magnet metal.

In our off-take discussions with the major Automotive OEMs there is increasing importance being placed on the security of supply and low-embedded carbon. The production of an ultra-low carbon magnet metal further enhances Saltend in its rapidly growing importance in the European and US magnet metal supply chains .”

Yorkshire Energy Park (YEP) Chairman Chris Turner, commented:

“YEP are delighted to be working with Pensana on the world’s first rare earth processing hub to be powered by offshore wind. The future for energy in the Humber estuary is very exciting and YEP is at the forefront of the drive to zero-carbon.”

 -ENDS-

For further information, please contact:

Shareholder/analyst enquiries:

Pensana Plc 

Paul Atherley, Chairman 

Tim George, Chief Executive Officer

Rob Kaplan, Chief Financial Officer

Virginia Skroski, Head of Investor Relations & Communications  [e-mail] 

Media enquiries:

Finsbury Glover Herring:

Gordon Simpson / Richard Crowley  [e-mail]

The information contained within this announcement is considered by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No.596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information will be considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Paul Atherley (Chairman).

About Pensana Plc

The electrification of motive power is by far the most important part of the energy transition and one of the biggest energy transitions in history. Magnet metal rare earths are central to the transition away from internal combustion engines and critical to electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines.

Pensana plans to establish Saltend as an independent and sustainable processing hub supplying the key magnet metal oxides to a market which is currently dominated by China. The US$195 million Saltend facility is being designed to produce 12,500 tonnes per annum of rare earth oxides, of which 4,500 – 5,000 tonnes will be neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), representing over 5% of the world market in 2025.

Pensana’s plug and play facility is located within the world class Saltend Chemicals Park, a cluster of leading chemicals and renewable energy businesses in the Humber Freeport and will create over 500 jobs during construction and over 125 direct jobs once in production.

It will be the first major separation facility to be established in over a decade and will become one of only three major producers located outside China.

Pensana is aiming to establish Saltend as an attractive alternative for mining companies who may otherwise be limited to selling their products to China, having designed the facility to be easily adapted to cater for a range of rare earth feedstocks.

www.pensana.co.uk