Financial close & signing of contract with ewerGy

26 August 2020

EQTEC plc

("EQTEC" or the "Company")

Financial close and signing of Equipment Sale and Services Contract with ewerGy for Greece's first waste to energy gasification plant

EQTEC plc (AIM: EQT), a world leading gasification technology solutions company for waste-to-energy projects, is pleased to announce that it has signed an Equipment Sale and Services Contract with German EPC company, ewerGy GmbH ("ewerGy"), operating in Greece through its local EPC partner, ECO Hellas SA. The contract is in respect of the fully permitted and fully financed 0.5MWe waste gasification project in Larissa, in central Greece (the "Plant"), which is the first waste gasification plant in the country. The Plant will be owned and operated by Greece based promoter and project developer, Agrigas Energy SA ("Agrigas").

Highlights

·   EQTEC has signed a Nominated Subcontractor Agreement with ewerGy for the sale of Equipment and Engineering and Design Services worth €2.0 million to EQTEC, to be paid in stages over up to 18 months.

·    Financial close for the Plant has occurred and the first milestone payment to be made to EQTEC of €200,000 is expected to be invoiced and paid in September 2020.

·    The fully permitted 0.5MWe Plant is fully financed with a bank facility from one of the main banks in Greece.

·    Construction of the Plant is expected to begin next month and complete in Q4 2021, creating local jobs during the construction phase and once operational.

·    Once operational, the Plant will use EQTEC's advanced gasification technology to convert agricultural waste from wheat, corn and cotton harvests, otherwise destined for landfill or burning in the fields, into green electricity that will be exported to the grid.

·   A total of 22 projects in Greece and the Balkan region (the "Territory") are now included under the Collaboration Framework Agreement to be potentially jointly developed following further due diligence by EQTEC and ewerGy.

·    This follows the Company's announcements of 3 and 16 March 2020, where EQTEC announced the signing of an MOU where the Company would provide its gasification technology to the Plant as the Nominated Subcontractor to ewerGy and signed a Collaboration Framework Agreement with ewerGy covering the key terms of the proposed cooperation for the development of a portfolio of potential projects in the Territory.

Under the Collaboration Framework Agreement, EQTEC and ewerGy continue to work closely together and are progressing well with a select portfolio of projects in the Territory that would use EQTEC's Advanced Gasification Technology, which will include electricity generation, heat supply and/or combined cooling heating and power (CCHP), as well as syngas to chemicals and EQTEC and ewerGy have opened conversations with a number of providers of project finance.

Having completed preliminary due diligence on a number of additional projects, the parties have added 6 new projects into the Collaboration Framework Agreement, bringing the total projects to 22 to be potentially jointly developed in the Territory following further due diligence by EQTEC and ewerGy.

David Palumbo, CEO of EQTEC, commented:

"EQTEC's cooperation with ewerGy and ECO Hellas continues to strengthen and deliver results and we are pleased to have signed an equipment sales and services contract with them. With the strong and increasing appetite from traditional banking institutions to provide financing for projects applying EQTEC's advanced gasification technology, we look forward to commencing the construction of Greece's first waste to energy gasification plant, which is fully permitted and fully funded.

"This plant and the growing pipeline of 18 potential projects that we are progressing well in Greece and the Balkan region are expected to deliver value to our stakeholders, local communities and our shareholders. Scalable waste to energy solutions using proven advanced gasification technologies such as EQTEC's are important in the energy transition and decarbonisation market."

Gerd Kromarck, CEO of ewerGy, commented:

"Our aim has been to be the first in Greece to build an advanced gasification plant, and today we are one step closer to achieving this by signing the subcontractor agreement with EQTEC. Together with our Greek sister company, ECO Hellas, we have been working on securing a pipeline of future projects to develop with EQTEC. Together, we are now also setting up a commercial and technical training programme for our highly qualified and experienced staff in the region. Our people, located in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania and Croatia, will be enabled to fully assess and exploit the unique characteristics of EQTEC's advanced gasification technology."

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

About EQTEC plc

EQTEC is a gasification technology partner with proven proprietary patented technology for cost effective waste-to-value applications.

EQTEC designs and supplies advanced gasification solutions that have a higher efficiency product offering and are modular and scalable from 1MW to 25MW. EQTEC's solutions are independently proven to process over 50 different types of feedstock, including municipal waste, agricultural waste, biomass and plastics. EQTEC's solutions produce a uniquely pure high-quality synthesis gas (syngas), that is capable of being used for the widest applications in the creation of energy, hydrogen and biofuels.

Proprietary technology design together with deployment and maintenance capabilities mitigate the risks when using third party equipment. EQTEC's Technology Integration capabilities enable the Group to lead collaborative ecosystems that build sustainable, waste elimination and green energy infrastructure.

The Company is quoted on AIM (ticker: EQT) and the London Stock Exchange awarded EQTEC the Green Economy Mark that 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 

About ewerGy

ewerGy is a German company with over 12 years of experience in the renewable energy and biogas markets, delivering planning, project development, implementation and construction, refurbishment, as well as O&M services.

For more information, please visit: www.ewergy-germany.com