Prior to publication, the information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the UK Market Abuse Regulation. With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Active Energy Group Plc / EPIC: AEG / Sector: Alternative Energy

4 July 2022

Active Energy Group Plc

("Active Energy" or the "Company")

Annual General Meeting Statement and Strategic Update

Active Energy is holding its Annual General Meeting at 9.00am today at Novotel London Paddington, 3 Kingdom Street, Sheldon Square, Paddington, London W2 6BD.  At the meeting James Leahy, Chairman of Active Energy, will make the following statement:

"The last 12 months have been the most transformative in the history of Active Energy. For the first time, the Company was able to: (i) produce its next generation CoalSwitch® fuel in industrial quantities; (ii) deliver CoalSwitch®; and (iii) demonstrate to prospective customers worldwide its competitive and environmental advantages. 

"In 2022 the Company has been working closely with Player Design International Inc ("PDI"), our strategic partner, to complete a redesign of both the manufacturing process and the process reactors to enable production of industrial volumes of CoalSwitch®. This redesign work has now been completed. PDI, as a significant investor in AEG, shares AEG's focus to develop the significant economic opportunities for CoalSwitch® and its recent commitment toward the redesign of the CoalSwitch® plant further demonstrates this. 

"In order to accelerate the supply of production volumes of CoalSwitch, PDI has now committed to take full responsibility for permitting, financing and constructing the first CoalSwitch® production plant in Ashland, Maine (the "Ashland Facility") which PDI will own and operate.  PDI has already ordered the parts required for the completion of the Ashland Facility and has confirmed that first production volumes of CoalSwitch® will commence during the first quarter of 2023.  Active Energy will sell these volumes of CoalSwitch®, once produced, to prospective customers.

"Active Energy has granted relevant licenses in respect of some of its existing intellectual portfolio ("IP") to PDI to facilitate construction of the Ashland Facility.  Active Energy may seek to purchase the Ashland Facility from PDI at some time in the future and any purchase would be subject to  separate agreement and separately funded. 

"Last week, we announced the completion of the sale of our Lumberton site in North Carolina and this has provided the Company with USD$ 3.92 million of net cash proceeds. This transaction has provided the Company with sufficient working capital for the near term.  In addition to the sale of the Lumberton site, we have also sold some additional ancillary equipment from the Lumberton site for a minimum of $50,000 and agreed with PDI for the transfer of all existing CoalSwitch® manufacturing equipment from the Lumberton site to the Ashland Facility. This equipment remains the property of AEG and will be used in the future expansion of CoalSwitch® production during 2023. 

"We will deploy some of the funds from the sale of the Lumberton site toward the ongoing  sales and marketing program for CoalSwitch® in North America, Europe, Japan and South Africa.  Our focus for the remainder of 2022 will be upon converting the numerous commercial discussions, which we are currently having with potential customers, into firm orders for CoalSwitch®.

"To this end, we are now recruiting additional personnel to co-ordinate the sales functions, both in North America and Europe. Based on feedback, the provision of  definitive delivery schedules for CoalSwitch® will materially assist AEG in  all its current sales negotiations  and provide greater confidence to prospective customers of AEG's long-term commitment to supply large scale volumes of  CoalSwitch®.

"The next nine months are a period of enormous opportunity for AEG. The production process is proven and in PDI we have an excellent partner in building, financing and operating the first CoalSwitch® facility at Ashland. During 2022, CoalSwitch® has achieved increasing recognition as a proven, next generation biomass fuel with strong environmental credentials and improved heating performance. We have considerable customer interest for CoalSwitch® and now have the working capital headroom to drive forward our current sales negotiations into orders."

 About Active Energy Group:

Active Energy Group plc is a London listed (AIM: AEG) renewable energy company focused on the production and development of next generation biomass products that have the potential to transform traditional coal fired power and heavy industries and the existing renewable biomass industry.

AEG  has developed a proprietary technology platfrom which transforms waste biomass material into high-value renewable  fuels. Its patented product CoalSwitch® is a leading drop-in biomass  renewable fuel that can be co-fired with coal, completely replace coal as an alternative feedstock without requiring significant plant modifications or wholly replace existing biomass feedstock resources .

Active Energy Group's immediate strategic focus is the production and commercialisation of CoalSwitch®. CoalSwitch® is a registered trademark belonging to Active Energy Group plc.