REG - EQTEC PLC - Option for Grant of a Lease for Billingham Site

EQTECAnnouncement

20/12/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 2207K  EQTEC PLC  20 December 2022

 

20 December 2022

 

EQTEC plc

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

 

Option for Grant of a Lease with Scott Bros for Billingham Site

 

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 announce that,
further to its announcement of 30 September 2022, its wholly-owned subsidiary
Haverton WTV Limited ("Haverton WTV") has executed, with Scott Bros.
Enterprises Limited ("Scott Bros"), as landlord, and its wholly-owned
subsidiary Billingham EFW Limited, an option for the grant of a lease (the
"Option") in respect of land at New Road, Billingham (the "Project Site"), on
which an up to 25 MWe waste gasification and power plant is proposed to be
constructed (the "Project").

 

The Option

 

The Option replaces in full the conditional land purchase agreement contracted
by the parties and dated 25 February 2021, releasing the Company from all
liabilities therein including purchase of the Project Site for a balance
outstanding of £8,090,000.  Additionally, the Option has been agreed with
the following terms:

 

·    The initial period for exercise of the Option is from 19 December
2022 through 20 December 2023;

·    The fee payable in respect of the Option is £1, and the Option can
be exercised at nil cost;

·    The intial period for exercise of the Option may be extended by the
Company or any other owner/s of Haverton WTV for a maximum of one year, for
additional fees of £125,000 for each three month extension;

·    The Option may be exercised by the Company or any other owner/s of
Haverton WTV for an initial lease of 25 years, with the potential to renew the
lease thereafter; and

·    At either expiration of the Option or at completion of the lease, the
tenant of the land must transfer the existing grid connection offer or
contract to Scott Bros together with the title to the land.

 

David Palumbo, CEO of EQTEC, commented:

 

"We are happy to continue our relationship with Scott Bros and to progress the
Billingham project toward funding and maximum use of the land and realisation
of new energy infrastructure there, based on EQTEC's leading syngas
technology. The clean, waste-to-energy plant already consented for the site
has the potential to be an anchor facility to support local industry and also
a wider range of new technologies and offtake applications that would be
valuable additions to the burgeoning, new energy networks in Teesside. This
Option enables us to turn our attention back to funding and detailed design of
the Project.  As previously announced, we are working with top-tier partners
so that EQTEC can focus on technology development and engineering, providing
project development services as required. Not only does this new arrangement
release us from capital commitments, but it allows us to accelerate progress
with our business strategy, toward becoming exclusively a technology innovator
and licensor."

 

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                                                     +44 203 883 7009
 David Palumbo / Nauman Babar

 Strand Hanson - Nomad & Financial Adviser                     +44 20 7409 3494
 James Harris / Richard Johnson

 Panmure Gordon - Joint Broker                                 +44 207 886 2500
 John Prior / Hugh Rich

 Canaccord Genuity - Joint Broker                              +44 207 523 8000
 Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Patrick Dolaghan

 Alma PR - Financial Media & Investor Relations                +44 203 405 0205
 Josh Royston / Sam Modlin                                     EQTEC@almapr.co.uk (mailto:EQTEC@almapr.co.uk)

 Instinctif - General Media Enquiries                          +44 207 457 2381 / +44 788 788 4794
 Chris Speight / Tim Field                                     EQTEC@instinctif.com (mailto:EQTEC@instinctif.com)

 

About the Project

 

The Project Site is in a heavily industrialised area, adjacent to major plant
facilities and estates, including those of CF Fertilisers UK Limited, Seqens
Group pharmaceuticals and many others. Through its wholly owned project SPV,
Haverton WTV, the Company has secured all relevant permits and permissions to
build a refuse-derived fuel ("RDF")-to-combined heat and power ("CHP")
facility that would transform 200,000 tonnes per year of RDF into up to 25MW
of electricity for export to the national grid, with the potential for
creating up to 34MW of thermal energy. The Company has agreed favourable heads
of terms for over 250 per cent of its required volume of feedstock, secured
the contract for a grid connection and is now pursuing discussions with
neighbouring companies about provision of private wire offtake.

 

On 13 December 2021, the Company confirmed it was investigating new offtake
opportunities for the Project and that it was working with partners toward
feasibility work. On 18 July 2022, the Company announced that it had selected
Petrofac as its front-end engineering design ("FEED") contractor, further
confirming that, following full review of multiple financial models for the
Project, technical feasibilities and updated site drawings, the Company and
its partners were considering a range of additional facilities including for
hydrogen production, battery storage and/or hydrogen refuelling. All such
options would be subject to further planning permission and agreement of
future owners of the Project, which the Company intends to sell in whole or in
part.

 

The primary focus of the Company now is pursuit of Project investors to
support FEED work on the CHP facility and development of the several other
potential facilities on the site.

 

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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