REG - ATOME Energy PLC - Acquisition of 75 acre site for Villeta facility

AtomeAnnouncement

05/09/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 1911Y  ATOME Energy PLC  05 September 2022

5 September 2022

 

ATOME ENERGY PLC

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

 

Further operational progress with acquisition of 75 acre site for Villeta
facility

 

ATOME Chair to speak at IDB and Government sponsored "Invest in Paraguay"
event

 

ATOME Energy (AIM: ATOM), the only pure international green hydrogen and
ammonia production company on the London Stock Exchange with current large
scale industrial projects concentrating on energy and food security as well as
hydrogen mobility projects, announces further operational progress with the
acquisition of a 75 acre (30 hectare) site for its Villeta, Paraguay
production facility.

 

Land acquisition in Villeta

Following the recently signed 60MW power purchase agreement and subsequent
awarding of the FEED contract in relation to the Civil and Electromechanical
works at the Villeta substation announced on 28 July 2022, ATOME is pleased to
announce the securing of a 75 acre site adjacent to the Villeta substation for
its Villeta production facility (the "Site"). ATOME through its Paraguayan
subsidiary, ATOME Paraguay S.A., has entered into the freehold purchase
contract to acquire the Site from an unrelated local landowner with completion
scheduled in four months at a price of US$900,000, considered a market
valuation, with the full 10% deposit already having been paid and balance due
on completion. The purchase monies are able to be paid out of ATOME's existing
resources.

 

The Villeta facility is the first phase of what is ultimately projected to be
a total of some 400MW of capacity in Paraguay. The large 75 acre Site will
provide room for expansion and facilitate the ability as may be required to
store and act as a delivery point for ATOME's Paraguay production.

 

Not only is the Site adjacent to the Villeta substation of ANDE, the national
power distribution company, thereby minimising the cost of transmission lines,
it is conveniently situated near the major Villeta port facilities on the
River Paraguay, itself only 35km from the capital Asuncion. The navigable
Paraguay River merges further downstream with the Parana River and thence
through the River Plate to the Atlantic Ocean. It is accordingly an important
waterway linking inland cities in Paraguay such as Villeta to international
export markets and provides ATOME with its route to export markets as it
expands production.

 

The Site is close to major fertiliser distribution companies who currently
import all ingredients for the products they sell from outside of Paraguay and
transported up the river from countries such as China and Russia. The Site is
also near barge building companies contributing to Paraguay's third largest
barge fleet in the world.

 

Chair, Peter Levine, to speak at Invest in Paraguay on 8 September 2022

The Government of Paraguay in association with the multilateral institution,
the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is hosting an international "Invest
in Paraguay" event on 8-9 September 2022 in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay,
at the headquarters of the South American Football Federation.

 

Peter Levine, Chair of ATOME, has been invited to speak at the event
alongside, amongst others, the President of ANDE and the Paraguayan General
Director of ITAIPU BINACIONAL, the second largest-hydroelectric dam in the
world, a position that James Spalding, now President of ATOME Paraguay and
main board director of ATOME, held for five years between 2013-2018.

 

Olivier Mussat, CEO of ATOME, commented:

"As we continue to make progress, the acquisition of the Villeta site is the
next step on our critical path to achieve ATOME's business plan and vision to
fast-track our projects by locating near the source of power. Accordingly, we
were very pleased to come to an agreement to secure freehold land adjacent to
ANDE's substation, near potential end customers and export facilities.

 

"The large 75 acre footprint not only enables ATOME to have room for future
expansion and facilitation of storage but it also gives ATOME the scale to
grow its business footprint and attract associated industries and provide new
sustainable jobs. This is a great opportunity to bring in third party
complementary businesses in the energy and fertiliser value chains, creating
wealth for the country and value for our shareholders."

 

For more information, please visit https://www.atomeplc.com or contact:

 

 ATOME Energy PLC                                  +44 (0) 113 337 2210
 Nikita Levine, Investor Relations
info@atomeplc.com
 Beaumont Cornish (Nominated Adviser)              +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
 Roland Cornish, Michael Cornish
 Liberum (Joint Broker)                            +44 (0) 20 3100 2000
 Cameron Duncan, Kane Collings
 SP Angel (Joint Broker)                           +44 (0) 20 3490 0470
 Richard Hail, Caroline Rowe
 finnCap (Joint Broker)                            +44 (0) 20 7220 0500
 Christopher Raggett, Tim Harper
 Tavistock (Financial PR and IR)                   +44 (0) 20 7920 3150
 Simon Hudson, Rebecca Hislaire, Charles Baister   atome@tavistock.co.uk

 

The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute
inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No
596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal)
Act 2018. Upon publication of this announcement, this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain. The person who arranged for the
release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was Peter Levine,
Chairman.

 

Notes to Editors

 

ATOME

ATOME Energy PLC is an AIM listed company targeting green hydrogen and
ammonia production with over 400-megawatt of projects
in Paraguay and Iceland, through its subsidiaries ATOME Paraguay, which is
wholly owned, and Green Fuel ehf, in which ATOME Energy holds a 75 per cent
interest, respectively.

 

Since its admission to AIM in December 2021 ATOME has signed its first
electrolyser purchase order for its hydrogen transport Mobility Division due
to start generating revenue in 2023 and signed a large scale 60MW power
purchase agreement with ANDE, the state energy company in Paraguay for
production of green hydrogen and ammonia targeted to start operations at or
around end 2024.

 

ATOME is in the process of operational planning, sourcing and negotiations
with green electricity suppliers, equipment providers and offtake partners,
including signed memoranda of understanding and cooperation agreements in
place with key parties, to use electricity generated from existing geothermal
sources in Iceland and hydroelectric power in Paraguay. All chosen sites
are located close to the power and water sources and export facilities to
serve significant domestic and then international demand.

The Company has a green-focused Board which is supported by major shareholders
including Peter Levine, Trafigura, one of the world's leading commodity and
logistics company, and Schroders, a leading fund manager.

 

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