REG - Hydrogen Utopia Intl - Joint Venture with Powerhouse Energy PLC, Ireland

Hydrogen Utopia InternationalAnnouncement

21/03/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 5872T  Hydrogen Utopia International PLC  21 March 2023

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21 March 2023

 

Hydrogen Utopia International PLC

 (the "Company" or "HUI")

 

Joint Venture with Powerhouse Energy Group PLC for a Waste Plastic to Hydrogen
facility in Longford, Ireland

On 13 March 2023, Hydrogen Utopia International PLC announced that it had been
granted an option (the "Option") to take a 25 year lease of a greenfield site
at Fisherstown Energy Park in County Longford, Ireland (the "Longford Site")
to build a waste plastic to hydrogen plant (the "Longford Project").  HUI is
now pleased to announce that it has agreed payment and heads of terms ("HoTs")
with Powerhouse Energy Group PLC (AIM:PHE) for the joint development of the
Longford Project.

Under the HoTs, HUI and PHE have agreed to use a joint venture vehicle
incorporated in Ireland and to be owned equally by each company for the
Longford Project, with development costs being contributed to on a 50:50 basis
(the "JV").

 

PHE has agreed to pay HUI a non-returnable payment of up to £400,000 in cash
in recognition of HUI's contribution to identifying the Longford Project,
securing the Option and progressing the project. This cash payment comprises
an initial payment of £100,000 on signing the HoTs and a further payment of
£100,000 upon finalisation of the project documentation between HUI and PHE,
principally comprising a development agreement and a shareholder agreement,
which is expected to occur within the next three months. PHE has agreed to
make a further payment of £200,000 in cash to HUI once planning permission
has been granted for the Longford Project on the Longford Site.

 

The HoTs supersede most of the pre-existing arrangements between HUI and PHE
and the parties have agreed that the existing heads of terms in relation to a
proposed project in Tipperary, the exclusivity agreement between PHE and HUI's
UK operating subsidiary and the existing collaboration agreement between the
same parties will each be mutually terminated without any further obligation
on either party. In addition to the joint venture for the Longford Project,
HUI and PHE will also continue to work together on the proposed joint
development of a waste plastic to hydrogen facility at a site in Konin,
Greater Poland, as  announced on 23 August 2022.

 

Longford, a county in the Irish Midlands, is anticipated to be one of the
prime beneficiaries of the EU Just Transition Fund in Ireland. On 29 November
2022 Irish Government approval was given for Ireland's Territorial Just
Transition Plan and its associated programme for the period to 2027, which
will provide €169 million of funding in the Irish Midlands; the Irish
Government plan was adopted by the European Commission on 15 December 2022.

Fisherstown Energy Park has its own electrical grid connection, an electrical
substation and the potential for the Longford Project to utilise the existing
waste water treatment facilities on site, which previously serviced a very
large denim manufacturing business. Fisherstown Energy Park also has good road
access and is within easy reach of the M4 and M6 motorways, which provide
access to Dublin and Galway.

Under the Option, HUI's wholly owned Irish subsidiary has been granted an
option for a period of up to three years to acquire a 25 year lease of the
Longford Site. HUI paid an option premium to the freeholder for the first 12
months of the Option, with the Option providing for further quarterly payments
thereafter for the duration of the Option period.

As previously announced, having entered into the Option, HUI is now commencing
planning, environmental and operational permitting applications for the
Longford Site, working with its professional advisers in Ireland.
 

Guy Peters, Executive Chairman of HUI, commented:

"This deal enables us to jointly pioneer a waste plastic to hydrogen plant in
an attractive EU jurisdiction with allocated JTF funding. Utilising the
skills, technological expertise and the relationships of both companies' teams
should enable us to deliver a plant that will act as a circular economy
showcase to the world."

Aleksandra Binkowska, CEO of HUI, commented:

"Converting non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen is a vision we
have shared with PHE for a long time. I believe this technology to be
instrumental in changing our world for the better. I am convinced
that realising this project jointly with PHE will
turn this vision into an operating, revenue generating hydrogen
plant. As I said before "Together we stand, divided we fall". Ireland is
the perfect place to cooperate as it is a country which is politically part of
the EU but historically and geographically close to the UK.  A perfect
blend."

For more information about the Company, please refer to our website:
www.hydrogenutopia.eu (http://www.hydrogenutopia.eu)

For further information please contact:

Hydrogen Utopia International PLC

Aleksandra Binkowska/Guy Peters

+44 20 3811 8770

 

Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Limited (AQSE Corporate Adviser)

Nick
Michaels

+44 20 3772 0021

 
 
 

Novum Securities Limited (Broker)
 

Jon Belliss/Colin
Rowbury

+44 20 7399 9400

 

About Hydrogen Utopia International PLC

HUI aims to become one of the leading new European companies specialising in
turning non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen and other carbon-free
fuels, new materials or distributed renewable heat.

A HUI facility uses non-recyclable mixed waste plastic as feedstock and turns
it into syngas from which new products and energy can be produced. HUI
anticipates that its revenues will be derived from a variety of sources,
dependent upon location and configuration of the HUI facilities, including the
sale of syngas, hydrogen and other gases, electricity and heat sales, and the
payment to it of fees for a given quantity of non-recyclable mixed waste
plastic received at a HUI facility.

HUI will target areas where there is significant private sector interest or
potential, financial backing is accessible and or where substantial EU and/or
government funded sources of grants and loans are or may be available. The
global increase in fossil fuel-based energy prices reinforces the need for
alternative, price competitive energy sources, which HUI's business model can
provide.

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