Engineering progress at CoalSwitch plant Lumberton

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

3 December 2020

Active Energy Group Plc

("Active Energy", "AEG", or the "Company")

Engineering progress at CoalSwitch™ reference plant at Lumberton

Active Energy, the London quoted international biomass based renewable energy and forestry management business, is pleased to announce an operational update on the development of the Company's CoalSwitch™ reference plant (the "Plant") at its Lumberton site.

Highlights:

·    Player Design Inc. ("Player Design") were appointed in September 2020 to complete the engineering and construction process for the Plant

·    Additional equipment has been sourced and Active Energy has commenced the procurement process

·    Construction crews will commence work in January 2021 with commissioning of the plant expected during Q2 2021

·    AEG is in active discussions with prospective customers for the delivery of the next generation biomass fuels, including CoalSwitch™ in the USA

Following the award of the Air and Construction Permit (the "Permit") by the NC Division of Air Quality ("DAQ") in August 2020, AEG appointed Player Design to complete the engineering process for the Plant. Player Design is a market leading engineering service business focused as an EPC provider for the provision of drying and energy systems.  Player Design has offices in the US and has completed major projects in North America, South East Asia and Australia. They have recently completed the construction of a series of EPC Pellet Plants worldwide, including a latest project in Canada producing up to 200,000 MT per annum of pellets.

Over the last 8 weeks, Player Design performed an independent analysis of the CoalSwitch™ process, and plant design, with particular reference to the emission control system in accordance with the requirements of the Permit. This analysis has resulted in some changes to the existing design and specification for the Plant to ensure that the new plant can be an operating platform to produce the first versions of biomass fuels with CoalSwitch™ specifications and operate with an initial capacity of up to 3 tonnes per hour.  

The revised plant design has utilised much of the equipment used in the previous design developed in Utah. Nonetheless additional equipment resulting from the revised analysis will be required. This equipment has already been identified and has now been sourced directly from within the US. AEG is procuring this equipment immediately with deliveries to Lumberton scheduled to commence before year end and prior to the commencement of construction work in early January 2021.  The layout of Lumberton's CoalSwitch™ plant will be made available on the Company's website as soon as possible.

Both AEG and Player Design anticipate commissioning of the Plant to commence in Q2 2021 to enable the first deliveries of CoalSwitch™ fuels before mid-year. AEG is also currently in active discussions with a number of prospective utility and power customers in the USA to test the CoalSwitch™ fuels as soon as practicable.

Tyler Player, CEO of Player Design, said:

"Working with Active Energy provides Player Design with a unique opportunity to better understand the capabilities of next generation biomass fuels, using waste resources and in particular the impact CoalSwitch™ will have. Our work to date has already validated Active Energy's initial analysis on CoalSwitch™ and we now look forward to working with the team to have the commercial scale  Lumberton facility in production as soon as possible and then on further CoalSwitch™ projects with Active Energy."

Michael Rowan, CEO of Active Energy Group, said:

"We have been making rapid progress at Lumberton since the award of the Permit in August 2020 and we are continuing the pace as we seek to commission the Plant as soon as possible in Q2 2021. With the additional support from Player Design, we expect the pace of our activities to accelerate to reflect the market opportunities now presenting themselves both in the US and internationally. There is increasing customer interest for both the next generation biomass products, including CoalSwitch™ and the underlying Coalswitch™ production technologies. We look forward to providing the market with further updates as key milestones within the Plant's construction plans are achieved in the coming weeks and we approach our long term goal of commercialising AEG's next generation biomass product in 2021."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.

ENDS

About Active Energy Group:

Active Energy Group plc is a London listed (AIM: AEG) renewable energy company that has developed a proprietary technology which transforms low-cost biomass material into high-value green fuels.  Its patented product CoalSwitch™ is the world's only drop-in biomass fuel that can be mixed at any ratio with coal or completely replace coal in existing coal-fired power stations without requiring plant modification. Active Energy Group's immediate strategic focus is the production and commercialisation of CoalSwitch™ and a low emission CoalSwitch™ blend that utilises other waste materials.