REG - Oracle Power PLC - Q1 Update and Corporate Strategy

Oracle PowerAnnouncement

27/04/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 5954X  Oracle Power PLC  27 April 2023

27 April 2023

 

 

 

Oracle Power PLC

("Oracle" or the "Company")

Q1 Update and Corporate Strategy

Oracle Power PLC (AIM: ORCP), a developer of green energy projects, is
pleased to provide the following update on activities during Q1 2023 and
implementation of its realigned corporate strategy, which focuses
on the development of renewable energy generation projects.

The Company made significant progress during the first quarter of
2023, developing a series of strategic industry partnerships as
it advances the development of its flagship asset, the 400MW Green
Hydrogen Project (the "Project" or "GHP") in Sindh, Pakistan, through its
subsidiary Oracle Energy. It is targeting a total annual output of 55,000
tonnes of high purity green hydrogen to mainly export for use in industries,
utilities and transportation sectors.

 

Highlights

 

·    Signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") in February
2023 with Emirates Global Aluminium to jointly explore the supply of
c.50,000 tonnes of green hydrogen. If successful, the offtake agreement
would secure the majority of the GHP's output with an industry leader,
significantly mitigating financing risk.

·    Successfully raised gross proceeds of £500,000 in February 2023
via an oversubscribed placing of 294,117,647 new ordinary shares priced at
0.17p, to support ongoing development of GHP in a timely manner and with a
view to begin construction in FY'24.

·    Signed MoU with subsidiary of State Grid of China, China Electric
Power and Technology Co., Ltd ("CET") in March 2023 to develop, finance,
construct, operate and maintain the GHP; including the construction of a
Hybrid Renewable Energy Production, Chemical Processing, and Storage
facilities.

·    Signed MoU in March 2023 with Doosan Fuel Cell Co., Ltd ("Doosan
Fuel Cell"), the industry leading Korean fuel cell and hydrogen company, and
HyAxiom Inc. ("HyAxiom"), a leading global fuel cell and hydrogen solution
provider, to jointly explore fuel cell opportunities for industrial power
generation in Pakistan.

·    Land lease for GHP site formally awarded by the Government of
Sindh's land registry and registered in March, completing the acquisition of
the land package of 7,000 acres (announced in November 2022).

·    Joined Dii Desert Energy as an Associate Partner in February 2023, an
exclusive and highly influential independent network, whose mission is to
harness emission-free energy from the Middle East and North African ("MENA")
region and beyond.

 

The Company is mainly targeting markets in Asia including China, Japan, Korea,
and Europe for export of the green hydrogen molecule in the form of liquid
green ammonia or liquid hydrogen. Furthermore, the Company has also formed
relationships to deploy green power solutions using hydrogen fuel
engines, for large-scale industry and transport.

Oracle expects to progress these strategic relationships with industry leading
partners in the coming months and looks forward to updating the market
accordingly.

Thyssenkrupp Uhde ("Thyssenkrupp") is also progressing well
with the commercial and technical feasibility work on the production of
green hydrogen and green ammonia at the GHP with preliminary results due out
in Q2 2023.

This study will help guide the Project's ongoing development and will
provide a basis for understanding the key production metrics and
expectations.

Following the signing of its MoU with the Company, CET has positioned its
teams to commence its studies on power and transmission, which are expected to
begin in Q2 2023. The results from these studies will serve to feed into
Thyssenkrupp's modelling for the feasibility studies.

Corporate Strategy

Since COP26 in October 2021, there has been a significant focus from most
governments, international business and global capital markets to accelerate
the transition away from fossil fuel power generation in order to meet the
ambitious 2050 Net Zero targets. With this pressure, the focus on renewable
energy, as well as hydrogen as a solution, has highlighted the importance
of Oracle's stated strategy of pivoting towards green energy power
generation and away from hydrocarbon industries.

Successfully delivering GHP would propel Oracle to first mover status in the
nascent green hydrogen sector in Pakistan with the 55,000tpa project the
country's first and one of the largest such projects in the region. It
is expected to deploy 700MW solar and 500MW wind power along with a battery
station, to produce green hydrogen.

In addition, the global hydrogen production market is growing rapidly
and was valued at US$130 billion in 2022 by the World Bank and anticipated
to grow by over 9% per annum until 2030, which points to strong global
demand for GHP's planned output. The Project is Oracle's first renewable
energy project through its 30% shareholding in Oracle Energy - its JV with
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum (via Kaheel Energy FZE, who owns
the remaining 70%), a regional developer of green energy projects.

Oracle aims to leverage its significant shareholder's expertise,
relationships and reputation as a strategic investor in energy across the
MENA region, which will also be a potential focus of Oracle's operations. This
will help achieve the Company's primary strategic goal of becoming a leading
developer of renewable energy projects; as the originator of Pakistan's
first commercial green hydrogen production facility.

The development of relationships with some of the largest utility providers in
the world, including the co-operation agreement, announced post period end
in April, with PowerChina to build a significant solar power generation plant
on Oracle's Thar Block VI in Pakistan, underpins the ongoing transformation
of the Company.  These partnerships provide a key platform in making our
vision into a reality.  We will continue to refine our strategy in what is a
rapidly changing environment, seek to monetise and divest of assets which are
non-core, and focus on the comparative advantage of our expertise,
relationships and quality assets in order to maximise returns to our
stakeholders and partners.

 

Naheed Memon, CEO of Oracle, commented:

"Our first quarter of 2023 has witnessed several exciting developments through
creating a strong network of industry partnerships with potential off-takers,
project financiers and developers plus hydrogen fuel cell innovators, which
further establishes our position in the global green hydrogen ecosystem, as a
significant potential supplier of this renewable energy fuel.

The rapid developments in the global green hydrogen space are nothing short of
amazing and we are witnessing a huge leap in the appetite for large-scale
renewable energy in industry, transport and aviation at a time when
'traditional' energy costs are spiralling and becoming increasingly
problematic due to climate change implications. Alternative sources of clean,
green energy are badly needed globally."

 

Naheed Memon, CEO of Oracle, will be conducting a shareholder presentation
and Q&A session via the Investor Meet Company platform on Thursday April
27(th) at 11am GMT.

 

The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions
can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until
9.00 a.m. the day before the meeting or at any time during the live
presentation.  There is no guarantee that all questions will be discussed on
the call given time limitations and/or specific sensitivities with respect to
operations.

 

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet Oracle
Power PLC via:

 

https://www.investormeetcompany.com/oracle-power-plc/register-investor
(https://www.investormeetcompany.com/oracle-power-plc/register-investor)

 

Investors who already follow Oracle Power PLC on the Investor Meet Company
platform will automatically be invited.

 

For further information:

  Oracle Power PLC                                                                  +44 (0) 203 580 4314

 Naheed Memon (Chief Executive Officer)

 Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker)                               +44 (0) 20 7409 3494

 Rory Murphy, Matthew Chandler, Rob Patrick

 Buchanan                                                                         +44 (0) 20 7466 500

 Oonagh Reidy/ Abigail Gilchrist                                                  oracle@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:oracle@buchanan.uk.com)

 

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