Croatia Joint Venture Update

RNS Number : 4424T

EQTEC PLC

24 November 2021

EQTEC plc

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

Croatia Joint Venture update

Belišće Project Financial Close and Karlovac Project first phase funding secured

EQTEC plc (AIM: EQT), a world-leading gasification solutions company building the future of a cleaner waste-to-energy industry, is pleased to announce that financial close has been achieved for the Belišće Project ("Belišće") and first phase funding for a second project in Karlovač ("Karlovač") has been secured. Both projects are being developed by Synergy Projects d.o.o. ("Synergy Projects") the Company's Croatian joint venture with local project development partner Sense ESCO d.o.o. ("Sense ESCO").

Highlights

·	Sense ESCO has subscribed for additional shares in each of the Belišće and Karlovač Project SPVs which has resulted in it owning 51% of the equity in the respective SPVs. Synergy Projects has retained 49% equity in both Project SPVs;
·	The projects are being funded through a mix of equity, debt and privately placed tradeable bonds;
·	The funding requirement for Belišće recommissioning is c. € 4.2m of which Sense ESCO will be providing €1.7m while EQTEC will provide the balance, in addition to the €550,000 loan previously provided;
·	The total funding requirement for Karlovač is forecast to be in the region of €10m. EQTEC and Sense ESCO will initially be providing 25% of the required funding through subscriptions to privately placed tradeable bonds and equity while third party investors and bank debt will be sought to fund the balance;
·	Full funding required for the technology upgrades and subsequent re-commissioning at the Belišće plant has been secured, in order to upgrade the design and an increase in capacity to 1.5MWe from the original 1.2MWe;
·	The Company has completed full detailed engineering for the Belišće plant, all main components have been ordered and are expected to be on site during Q4 2021 and Q1 2022;
·	The Karlovač plant will be developed in two phases of 1.5MWe each, to take advantage of the existing infrastructure, grid connection and Power Purchase Agreement;
·	Partial funding for the first phase at Karlovač has been secured in order to accelerate completion of the detailed engineering design and order main equipment;
·	The technology sales for EQTEC over the life of project is €2.0m for Belišće, of which c.80% is expected to be invoiced by EQTEC in the current financial year, and €7.5m for Karlovac, of which c.20% is forecast to be invoiced in the current financial year, in each case subject to achievement of certain milestones; and
·	The Company and Sense ESCO are continuing discussions with investors and banks to secure additional debt and equity to fund Karlovac's current and future phases. Furthermore, discussions are underway to sell equity and or tradeable bonds in the projects either during construction or after achieving successful commercial operation in line with EQTEC's general business strategy.

David Palumbo, CEO of EQTEC, commented:

"We are very pleased to complete financial close at Belišće, our Market Development Centre in Croatia and also confirm first phase funding for the Karlovac project in collaboration with our Croatian joint venture partner, Sense ESCO. Both of these projects are designed to provide a community cooperative model to local stakeholders, taking responsibly managed waste from each plant's surrounding areas and turning it into clean energy. We are applying project delivery focus and technical innovation towards commissioning these projects and delivering value to the local communities in 2022."

More information about Belišće and Karlovač projects

The project at Belišće was originally commissioned in 2016 and the plant was built around EQTEC's proprietary and patented Advanced Gasification Technology. The 1.2MWe plant will be recommissioned, upgraded to 1.5MWe and repowered to convert forestry wood waste from local farms and forests into green electricity and heat for use in the local community. It will also operate as an EQTEC Market Development Centre, where the Company will demonstrate EQTEC's technology in a fully operational, commercial environment.

The project in Karlovac sits on a site that contains a decommissioned plant which originally employed an early gasification technology from a third party. When redesigned, reconfigured and commissioned, the 3.0MWe plant will transform locally sourced wood chips and forestry wood waste from regional forests into green electricity for use by the local community and also produce high quality biochar to supply the growing demand of this commodity in Europe.

This announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014 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 / James Dance

Arden Partners - Joint Broker	+44 20 7614 5900
Paul Shackleton (Corporate) / Simon Johnson (Sales)

Canaccord Genuity - Joint Broker	+44 20 7523 8000
Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Patrick Dolaghan

Alma PR - Financial Media & Investor Relations	+44 20 3405 0205
Josh Royston / Sam Modlin	[email protected]

BECG - General Media Enquiries	+44 7554 014 188 / +44 7867 452 269
Carrie Lowe / Tom Gosschalk	[email protected]

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.

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