Option for Grant of a Lease for Billingham Site

RNS Number : 2207K

EQTEC PLC

20 December 2022

 

20 December 2022

EQTEC plc

("EQTEC", the "Company" or the "Group")

Option for Grant of a Lease with Scott Bros for Billingham Site

EQTEC plc (AIM: EQT), a global technology innovator powering distributed, decarbonised, new energy infrastructure through its waste-to-value solutions for hydrogen, biofuels, and energy generation is pleased to announce that, further to its announcement of 30 September 2022, its wholly-owned subsidiary Haverton WTV Limited ("Haverton WTV") has executed, with Scott Bros. Enterprises Limited ("Scott Bros"), as landlord, and its wholly-owned subsidiary Billingham EFW Limited, an option for the grant of a lease (the "Option") in respect of land at New Road, Billingham (the "Project Site"), on which an up to 25 MWe waste gasification and power plant is proposed to be constructed (the "Project").

The Option

The Option replaces in full the conditional land purchase agreement contracted by the parties and dated 25 February 2021, releasing the Company from all liabilities therein including purchase of the Project Site for a balance outstanding of £8,090,000.  Additionally, the Option has been agreed with the following terms:

· The initial period for exercise of the Option is from 19 December 2022 through 20 December 2023;

· The fee payable in respect of the Option is £1, and the Option can be exercised at nil cost;

· The intial period for exercise of the Option may be extended by the Company or any other owner/s of Haverton WTV for a maximum of one year, for additional fees of £125,000 for each three month extension;

· The Option may be exercised by the Company or any other owner/s of Haverton WTV for an initial lease of 25 years, with the potential to renew the lease thereafter; and

· At either expiration of the Option or at completion of the lease, the tenant of the land must transfer the existing grid connection offer or contract to Scott Bros together with the title to the land.

David Palumbo, CEO of EQTEC, commented:

"We are happy to continue our relationship with Scott Bros and to progress the Billingham project toward funding and maximum use of the land and realisation of new energy infrastructure there, based on EQTEC's leading syngas technology. The clean, waste-to-energy plant already consented for the site has the potential to be an anchor facility to support local industry and also a wider range of new technologies and offtake applications that would be valuable additions to the burgeoning, new energy networks in Teesside. This Option enables us to turn our attention back to funding and detailed design of the Project .  As previously announced, we are working with top-tier partners so that EQTEC can focus on technology development and engineering, providing project development services as required. Not only does this new arrangement release us from capital commitments, but it allows us to accelerate progress with our business strategy, toward becoming exclusively a technology innovator and licensor ."

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	[phone]
David Palumbo / Nauman Babar
Strand Hanson - Nomad & Financial Adviser	[phone]
James Harris / Richard Johnson
Panmure Gordon - Joint Broker	[phone]
John Prior / Hugh Rich
Canaccord Genuity - Joint Broker	[phone]
Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Patrick Dolaghan
Alma PR - Financial Media & Investor Relations	[phone]
Josh Royston / Sam Modlin	[e-mail]
Instinctif - General Media Enquiries	[phone] / [phone]
Chris Speight / Tim Field	[e-mail]

About the Project

The Project Site is in a heavily industrialised area, adjacent to major plant facilities and estates, including those of CF Fertilisers UK Limited, Seqens Group pharmaceuticals and many others. Through its wholly owned project SPV, Haverton WTV, the Company has secured all relevant permits and permissions to build a refuse-derived fuel ("RDF")-to-combined heat and power ("CHP") facility that would transform 200,000 tonnes per year of RDF into up to 25MW of electricity for export to the national grid, with the potential for creating up to 34MW of thermal energy. The Company has agreed favourable heads of terms for over 250 per cent of its required volume of feedstock, secured the contract for a grid connection and is now pursuing discussions with neighbouring companies about provision of private wire offtake.

On 13 December 2021, the Company confirmed it was investigating new offtake opportunities for the Project and that it was working with partners toward feasibility work. On 18 July 2022, the Company announced that it had selected Petrofac as its front-end engineering design ("FEED") contractor, further confirming that, following full review of multiple financial models for the Project, technical feasibilities and updated site drawings, the Company and its partners were considering a range of additional facilities including for hydrogen production, battery storage and/or hydrogen refuelling. All such options would be subject to further planning permission and agreement of future owners of the Project, which the Company intends to sell in whole or in part.

The primary focus of the Company now is pursuit of Project investors to support FEED work on the CHP facility and development of the several other potential facilities on the site.

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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