Uskmouth Power Station Conversion Project Update

RNS Number : 2698G

SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited

05 November 2018

 

The information contained in this announcement is inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596 / 2014. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Atlantis is Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer of SIMEC Atlantis Energy.

5 November 2018

SIMEC ATLANTIS ENERGY LIMITED

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

Uskmouth Power Station Conversion Project Update and EPP Contract Award

Highlights

·      Environmental Planning and Permitting ("EPP") contract awarded to RPS

·      Management Services Agreement awarded to Atlantis by N+P Group

·      Successful energy pellet milling trials conducted by N+P Group

·      Atlantis team strengthened with appointments of Chief Operating Officer and Head of Conversion

SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited ("Atlantis"), a diversified sustainable energy generation company, is delighted to provide an operational update for its flagship Uskmouth Power Station conversion project in Wales. The power station will be converted from coal power to generate electricity from 100% waste derived energy pellets.

Post conversion, the power station will export 220MW of baseload power to the grid using energy pellets produced from non-recyclable waste destined for landfill, with an average calorific value of 20 Mega Joules per kg. The energy pellets are produced using technology developed by Dutch company N+P Group ("N+P"), with one of four new UK pellet facilities to be developed on land adjacent to the Uskmouth Power Station. This is a 50:50 joint venture between N+P Group and SIMEC Energy, a member of the GFG Alliance, called SIMEC Subcoal Fuels Limited ("SSF").

The conversion is expected to take 18 months post completion of front-end engineering and design ("FEED") with a target of first production in Q4 2020 and the converted station will have an operational life of 20 years.

Environmental Planning and Permitting ("EPP") contract award

The Environmental Planning and Permitting contract has been awarded to RPS, the international consultancy firm. RPS will work with the teams at Uskmouth and SSF to facilitate the EPP requirements for the Uskmouth conversion and construction of an N+P energy pellet plant on land adjacent to the Power Station. RPS will bring extensive experience of planning and permitting for energy stations. The Uskmouth team have already initiated baseline ecological surveys at the site.

Management Services Agreement ("MSA")

Atlantis has been awarded the MSA in relation to the consenting process for the SSF pellet plant to be built adjacent to the Power Station in South Wales. When completed, the SSF pellet plant will convert 600,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste destined for landfill into energy pellets to be used as fuel at the Power Station.

Market disrupting energy pellet development

Atlantis, in collaboration with its project partners SSF, has made significant progress in the development of a waste derived energy pellet that could have applications for coal fired power station conversion opportunities around the world and will be utilised at the pioneering Uskmouth plant.

The purpose of this pellet Research and Development programme is to create a waste derived fuel pellet that can be used in a multitude of combustion systems with minimal conversion costs allowing existing coal fired power stations to be converted to combust 100% waste derived fuel, extending operating life, reducing emissions and addressing the global issue of responsible disposal of non-recyclable plastic.

Energy pellets are composed of non-recyclable-waste (card, paper, biogenic and plastic) otherwise destined for landfill. They are not virgin wood pellets. The CO2 emissions of waste combustion are lower than the emissions when coal is combusted. The Uskmouth pellet will consist of 50% biogenic material, which burns carbon neutral.

Successful pellet milling trials have been conducted by SSF in the Netherlands in order to adapt their existing processes to produce a fuel pellet with physical characteristics that are ideally suited for SIMEC Uskmouth Power Limited (SUP). During testing, this proprietary hardened pellet was crushed through both Andritz and CPM hammer mills. The final milled product has particle size reduction prior to combustion within a pulverised fuel furnace which aids more efficient and complete combustion.

Strengthening of Atlantis team

As previously announced on 22 October 2018, Atlantis has appointed Andy Richardson as its new Chief Operating Officer. Andy is a senior figure in the global power generation sector with extensive thermal generation experience having previously held senior positions at EDF, Bilfinger and Stanwell Corporation.

The Company has also appointed Ernie Rowe as its new Head of Conversion. Ernie has extensive thermal generation and conversion experience including fuel pelletising having previously held senior conversion positions at Drax.

Tim Cornelius, CEO of Simec Atlantis Energy, commented: 

"The work we are completing with N+P will deliver an alternative fuel pellet which we expect will be very disruptive in the waste-to-energy and alternative fuel sector. A high energy pellet that burns as clean as natural gas and is capable of addressing the world's non-recyclable waste problem whilst providing base load generation and balancing services to the grid to facilitate deeper penetration of renewables is one of the most exciting developments in power generation in the last decade.

"The important work we are doing in alternative fuel development will also have implications on power supply for the steel, cement and petrochemical industries. Our super pellet will underpin the growth of our conversions business worldwide as we seek to deliver low emission, subsidy free baseload generation using non-recyclable plastic and commercial and industrial waste as our feed stock."

Dan Smyth, Director - Major Infrastructure projects at RPS, commented:

"Our energy and resource management infrastructure is being transformed, owing to the need to decarbonise to meet climate change and carbon budget goals. This is one of the few areas where successive governments have provided strong, consistent policy support. RPS' consenting experts have an unrivalled track record of advising our clients on major infrastructure projects in energy and we have helped shape and secure numerous sites and high volumes of new capacity.

"We are proud of the contribution we have made on behalf of our clients in the UK renewable energy sector and we are very excited to be working together with Simec Atlantis Energy with its transformational plans at Uskmouth."

Lars Jennissen, Technical Director of the N+P Group commented:

"N+P is proud to be involved in the Uskmouth conversion. Over the summer a lot of work has been done on the Subcoal® pellet quality to ensure that we can meet the high standards required in a power station environment. In total, N+P will source over 1.3 million tons of non-recyclable paper and plastic waste, which will be utilized at 3 production locations throughout the UK. These production locations will jointly produce over 900.000 tons of Subcoal® per annum, which will save approx. 800.000 tons of CO2 emissions per annum.

"We expect that the Uskmouth conversion will be an example for the rest of the world, the Subcoal® concept of utilizing non-recyclable waste destined for landfill, to replace hundreds of thousands of tons of coal is making a lot of sense, both from an environmental as well as an economic point of view. We hope to copy the concept from Uskmouth to power stations worldwide."

Enquiries:

SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited	via FTI Consulting
Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Dagley, Chief Financial Officer
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Rick Thompson Richard Salmond David Porter
Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited (Joint Broker)                  Nick Stamp	[phone]
FTI Consulting	[phone]
Ben Brewerton Alex Beagley James Styles Molly Stewart

Notes to Editors

Simec Atlantis Energy 

SIMEC Atlantis Energy is the global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects with a diverse portfolio of more than 1,000 megawatts in various stages of development. This includes a 77% stake in the world's largest tidal stream power project, MeyGen, and the conversion of the 220MW Uskmouth Power Station.

In 2017 we entered into a strategic partnership with SIMEC, a member of the GFG Alliance, to convert the Uskmouth Power Plant to use an end-of-waste energy pellet as fuel. The plant is expected to enter commercial operations in 2020 and will sell its power to GFG Alliance companies under two 20-year power purchase agreements. A successful conversion will tackle the pressing issue of non-recyclable waste in the UK and will form the blue-print for other large-scale conversion projects across the globe.

We intend this to be the first of a number of acquisitions aiming to transform SIMEC Atlantis into a diversified energy Company of scale, owning development and generating assets across the sustainable energy spectrum in Europe, Asia and Australia, complementing our existing UK pipeline.

https://simecatlantis.com/ 

RPS

RPS is an international consultancy providing professional services to clients in the built and natural environment, energy and resource management markets. RPS is a planning, environmental, design and project management consultancy helping our clients to resolve technical issues, maintain compliance with regulatory obligations and deliver successful projects.

RPS holds a strong track record in delivering multi-disciplinary consultancy services to the Renewable and Energy from Waste sector. We provide best-in-class solutions to take a project from conception, through consenting, construction and into successful operation. We work closely with waste management companies, technology providers and support specialist contractors in the procurement and delivery of projects.

RPS has acted as planning consultants on a variety of projects ranging in size from small scale gasification plants to the largest facilities with through puts of 750,000 tpa. In addition, our in house environmental teams have produced numerous Environmental Impact Assessments and permitting applications.

Our Architecture and Civil/Structural Engineering design teams have produced a number of complex and technically challenging designs of facilities across the country. Supported by our Building Services Engineers, Fire Engineers and CDM Consultants, RPS offers a truly unique multi-disciplinary design service within the sector.

https://www.rpsgroup.com/ 

N+P

The N+P Group, internationally recognized and certified service provider in recycling, has developed into a pre-eminent specialist in the purchase and supply of industrial residues for industrial reuse.

By developing recycling concepts for the industrial residues N+P is in the position to carry through purchase and supply guarantee, independent of seasonal influences.

In this way N+P opens up new horizons when deploying industrial residues as secondary raw materials and fuels.

https://www.np-recycling.nl/en/ 

 

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