REG - EQTEC PLC - Drawdown of Bank Refinance Approved for Italy MDC

EQTECAnnouncement

16/01/2024 07:01

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240116:nRSP7593Za&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 7593Z  EQTEC PLC  16 January 2024

16 January 2024

EQTEC plc

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

 

Drawdown of Bank Refinance Approved for Italy Market Development Centre

 

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 confirm that
Banca del Fucino S.p.A., a historic private banking group based in Rome, (the
"Lender") has approved the Company's drawdown of a loan facility of €2.9
million announced by the Company on 4 September 2023 (the "Facility") (the
"Approval").

 

The Facility will provide financing for EQTEC Italia MDC Srl ("Italia MDC"),
which owns the Italy Market Development Centre, located in Gallina, near
Castiglione d'Orcia, Tuscany, Italy (the "Plant"). As announced by the Company
on 21 December 2023, Italia MDC has completed a series of operational
performance improvements and achieved the performance criteria set by the
Lender. The Approval has been confirmed following the Lender's visit to the
Plant on 10 January 2024, at which it was accompanied by Italia MDC staff and
shareholders, including the Company.

 

As previously announced, the term of the Facility is 48 months, with an annual
interest rate of 2.5% over the six-month Euro Interbank Offered Rate
(Euribor), which is currently c. 3.9%. The loan is guaranteed up to 80% by
MedioCredito Centrale S.p.A., which is controlled by the Italian Ministry of
Economy.

 

Italia MDC intends to draw down the Facility in full imminently to support the
Plant's business plan and to fund additional performance improvements as
Italia MDC pursues further operational efficiency and commercial
opportunities. Part of the Facility will also be applied towards repayment of
shareholder loans that have funded the project to date, including part of the
c €2.6 million loans made by the Company.

 

The Plant became operational in March 2023 and EQTEC completed handover
protocols and transfer of plant operations to Italia MDC in June 2023.

 

David Palumbo, CEO of EQTEC, commented:

 

"We are delighted to have achieved this significant milestone with Italia MDC.
The whole team at EQTEC and Italia MDC have worked relentlessly, aligning
technical, operational and commercial activities to achieve the outcome
milestone. The financing by Banca del Fucino, a traditional, primary lender,
indicates their confidence in our business proposition and underlines their
investment strategy toward new energy solutions and supporting innovation. We
remain committed to making Italia MDC a showcase of local capability , with
new energy infrastructure in Italy and a demonstration of EQTEC syngas
technology in a live, efficient and sustainable business."

 

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                                        +44 20 3883 7009 

 David Palumbo / Jeffrey Vander Linden 

  
 Strand Hanson - Nomad & Financial Adviser        +44 20 7409 3494 

 James Harris / Richard Johnson 

  
 Global Investment Strategy UK Ltd - Broker       +44 20 7048 9045 

 Samantha Esqulant 

 Fortified Securities - Broker                    +44 20 3411 7773 

 Guy Wheatley 

  
 Panmure Gordon - Broker                          +44 20 7886 2500 

 John Prior / Hugh Rich 

  

 

About EQTEC Italia MDC srl

 

EQTEC Italia MDC Srl ("Italia MDC") is a company registered in Italy for the
purpose of transforming agricultural and forestry waste into electrical power
and biochar in a relatively remote and heaviliy agrarian community. The
Company currently owns 49.0% of Italia MDC, with an option to acquire further
equity in future.

 

Italia MDC owns and operates a 1 MWe plant in Gallina (the "Plant"), a village
near Castiglione d'Orcia in Tuscany's Val d'Orcia, an area considered to be
the region's most scenic. It is on a site originally owned by Toscana Cereali
Societa' Cooperativa Agricola, from whom Italia MDC is currently leasing and
with whom Italia MDC have agreed to purchase the land by 30 July 2024. With
EQTEC technology at its core, the Plant is capable of converting multiple
types of biomass feedstock into electrical power and thermal energy.

 

Initially, the Plant is converting higher-density wood waste into electrical
power for export to the national grid, for which a connection has been secured
with a preferential tariff. In addition to the electricity, the Plant is
producing biochar for purchase by two European wholesalers of the product.
Thermal energy produced through the continuous EQTEC thermochemical conversion
process is being recycled to dry the feedstock, improving the Plant's
waste-to-energy conversion efficiency.

 

Feedstock is being delivered by multiple suppliers, and Italia MDC has
identified additional, potential suppliers in order to maintain continuity of
supply and leverage over cost and availability. Further, the Plant has been
upgraded to support lower-density feedstocks such as straw or other
agricultural waste. This ability to switch amongst feedstock types and
suppliers adds resilience to Italia MDC's business model.

 

About Market Development Centres (MDCs)

 

MDCs are reference plants that demonstrate EQTEC technology in live,
commercial environments, with application of EQTEC's versatile syngas to one
of four, target solution models: Industrial; Utility; Municipal; or
Agricultural. The Italia MDC is focused on the Agricultural solution model,
which demonstrates the potential for smaller-scale, autonomous plants in
remote areas to convert agricultural and forestry biomass into value for the
local community.

 

The Company has accommodated a number of visits to Italia MDC by prospective
investors and partners, since March, and has already scheduled a number of
further such visits, including with top-tier utilities companies,
infrastructure investors and a consortium of private investors with whom the
Company is in discussions towards funding and sale of equity in Croatia MDC.

 

The Company is targeting launch of the Croatia MDC later this year in
Belišće, Croatia, to demonstrate the Industrial solution model, converting
industrial waste from a nearby paper mill into electrical power and biochar,
returning the former to the paper mill and selling the latter on the open
market.

 

A third MDC is being pursued in eastern France that would demonstrate the
Utility solution model, helping utility companies decarbonise their plant
footprints and create new energy infrastructure for new lines of business in a
post-fossil fuel world. The France MDC is expected to become operational in
2024.

 

About EQTEC plc

 

As one of the world's most experienced thermochemical conversion technology
and engineering companies, EQTEC delivers waste management and new energy
solutions through best-in-class innovation and infrastructure engineering and
value-added services to owner-operators. EQTEC is one of only a few technology
providers directly addressing the challenge of replacing fossil fuels for
reliable, baseload energy. 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, specifies and delivers clean, syngas production solutions in
the USA, EU and UK, with highly efficient equipment that is modular and
scalable from 1MW to 30MW. EQTEC's versatile solutions process 60 varieties of
feedstock, including forestry waste, agricultural waste, industrial waste 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 renewable 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 the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment
Market (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
(http://www.eqtec.com/) .

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCGPUQAGUPCGMA