REG - ATOME Energy PLC - New joint venture in Central America

AtomeAnnouncement

02/02/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 6521O  ATOME Energy PLC  02 February 2023

2 February 2023

 

 

ATOME ENERGY PLC

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

 

New joint venture in Central America

National Ammonia Corporation S.A

 

ATOME Energy (AIM: ATOM), the only pure international green hydrogen and
ammonia production company on the London Stock Exchange with current large
scale projects in Europe and South America as well as hydrogen mobility
projects, announces a new joint venture developing green ammonia and
fertiliser projects with the focus on Central America and the Caribbean.

 

ATOME has entered into a joint venture with Cavendish, the renewable energy
arm of Grupo Purdy S.A., one of the largest corporations in Costa Rica. ATOME
and Cavendish have established a new enterprise, National Ammonia Corporation
S.A ("NAC"), owned equally with Cavendish and headquartered in San Jose, the
capital of Costa Rica, and which has a mandate to develop projects across
Central America and the Caribbean with its initial focus in Costa Rica.

 

Costa Rica is a democratic country and open economy and one of the greenest
countries in the world. The country has a 99% penetration of renewable
electricity and a strong agriculture sector which is one of the highest
fertiliser consumers per hectare on the planet.

 

Cavendish, led by its CEO Silvio Heimann, is one of the the leading
participants in the infant green hydrogen market in Costa Rica with
complimentary aims and objectives to ATOME. The objectives of NAC align with
ATOME which is focused on countries with renewable power resources and
capabilities combined with access to both domestic and international end
markets. Costa Rica's favourable position with ports on both the Atlantic and
Pacific only separated by some 200kms of landbridge make the country a
logistically excellent location.

 

Through NAC, ATOME aims to capitalise on its capability to roll out its large
scale hydrogen and ammonia production model now being implemented in Paraguay.
In this regard, material and constructive discussions are already taking place
with relevant stakeholders in the areas of focus for NAC.

 

Olivier Mussat, CEO of ATOME, commented: "We are excited as to the potential
of NAC. The establishment of NAC shows the clear intent of ATOME to deploy its
innovative business model and know-how in other geographies."

"With the Villeta Project in Paraguay, we have taken a significant industry
lead that we are able to roll out and replicate under the right conditions.
Our partnership with Cavendish, a company established by the founders and
owners of Grupo Purdy, offers ATOME a very attractive opportunity with a
strong local partner to accelerate the development of a pipeline of
international scale projects with strong local demand for green fertilisers."

Silvio Heimann, CEO of Cavendish, commented: "We are energised to join efforts
with ATOME to deliver innovative solutions to the domestic and regional
markets, as this combination of international expertise provided by ATOME´s
team fits perfectly well with our ability to execute locally."

Javier Quiros, partner in Cavendish SA  and VP Grupo Purdy S.A., commented:
"Cavendish was established by the Quiros Family to boost the development of
the green hydrogen technology in Costa Rica and the region. We see this
partnership with ATOME through NAC as a valuable opportunity to bring our
vision to life".

 

 

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
 Scott Mathieson, Kate Bannatyne
 SP Angel (Joint Broker)                           +44 (0) 20 3490 0470
 Richard Hail, Caroline Rowe
 finnCap (Joint Broker)                            +44 (0) 20 7220 0500
 Christopher Raggett, George Dollemore
 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. The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on
behalf of the Company was Peter Levine, Chairman.

 

 

About ATOME

ATOME Energy PLC is an AIM listed company targeting green hydrogen and
ammonia production with over 500-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 120MW power
purchase agreement with ANDE, the state energy company in Paraguay for
production of green hydrogen and ammonia targeted to start operations in 2025.

 

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.

About Cavendish

Cavendish was established in 2022 by the Quiros brothers, a family committed
with the environment and with a long tradition of supporting innovation.
Rooted in those convictions and in order to focus on developing new energies
and decarbonising Costa Rica and the wider Central American region through
long term green hydrogen investment projects. Led by the group's former CEO,
Silvio Heimann, Cavendish is composed of a rapidly growing team of experienced
developers in the renewable energy space and in the mobility industry. Since
2019, Cavendish has been operates a fleet of Toyota Mirais running solely on
Green Hydrogen. Cavendish, along with technological partners, successfully
applied for the NAMA Facility Program to develop innovative solutions for
heavy duty trucks in Costa Rica. The NAMA Facility is a multi donor fund
created by the UK and German governments which to date committed over EUR 668
million to 43 climate positive projects since 2012.

 

Founded in 1957, Grupo Purdy is a regional leader in the automotive industry.
Headquartered in Costa Rica with an established a presence in the United
States, its has activities beyond automotive such as insurance and financing.

 

 

 

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