REG - EQTEC PLC - Italia MDC update and share ownership

EQTECAnnouncement

06/11/2023 08:45

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RNS Number : 4860S  EQTEC PLC  06 November 2023

06 November 2023

 

EQTEC plc

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

 

Italia MDC update and share ownership

 

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 announces that the share capital
ownership of EQTEC Italia MDC Srl ("Italia MDC"), the operating company for
the Group's Italy-based Market Development Centre ("MDC") has been formally
updated to reflect recent investments made into the 1 MWe biomass-to-power
plant that is the focus of its business activities (the "Plant") and as part
of the legal preparation for the drawdown of financing for the plant provided
by Banca del Fucino S.p.A. (the "Lender").

 

The Company announced on 04 September 2023 that it had entered into a loan
facility of €2.9 million (the "Facility") provided by the Lender to
refinance the Plant, subject to the Plant's achievement of certain performance
criteria set by the Lender.  In order to achieve these criteria, Italia MDC
is implementing a series of performance improvements which are anticipated to
be completed in Q4 2023, at which point Italia MDC intends to draw down the
full amount of the Facility.

 

Those improvements are being financed through a combination of shareholder
loans and equity from two of the four investors in Italia MDC, Quainstone
Limited and the Company, resulting in a change to relative ownership of Italia
MDC, which the shareholders have recorded officially with Italian authorities
as of 03 November 2023. The updated capital ownership of the Plant is as
follows:

 

 

 Investor                Ownership share
 Quainstone Limited      39.76%
 EQTEC Holdings Limited  38.30%
 Pitcole Limited         10.97%
 MetalNRG                10.97%
 Total                   100.00%

 

ENQUIRIES

 

 EQTEC plc                                      +44 20 3883 7009

 David Palumbo / Nauman Babar

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

 James Harris / Richard Johnson

 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 38.30% of Italia MDC.

 

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, local 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 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
(http://www.eqtec.com/) .

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