EQTEC PLC (AIM:EQT) struck a deal for fellow AIM company Kibo Energy to become a strategic investor in the proposed Billingham waste gasification and power plant in Teesside, UK.
The pair also said the partnership could evolve and expand into other projects and markets.
Based on the heads of terms just signed, Kibo will acquire a 54.54% equity stake in the Haverton Hill project special purpose vehicle (SPV), with EQTEC to retain 45.46% equity in the SPV and continue to lead the development of the project.
The gasification solutions company said Kibo's investment and participation is “intended to accelerate development progress, support pursuit of a wider range of commercial opportunities and de-risk the subsequent construction and commissioning phase”.
EQTEC said the two companies have a shared outlook on how energy infrastructure projects should be developed and project managed successfully.
“Their confidence in the potential that this plant has for the local area, their commitment to investing in clean energy projects and technologies, and our shared approach to how large infrastructure projects like this should be successfully project managed, will ensure our skillsets are combined to best achieve the objectives for Billingham,” said David Palumbo, EQTEC’s chief executive.
“We also believe that this partnership with Kibo could evolve and expand into other projects and markets.
“We know there is a better, cleaner and more efficient way to use the municipal waste and convert it into value, sustainably, rather than sending it to be incinerated or buried at landfill sites. We look forward to driving this project forward towards achieving that goal.”
Louis Coetzee, chief executive of Kibo, said Kibo also sees “potential for us to roll out its Advanced Gasification Technology to our Africa projects and the Africa market in the future”.
EQTEC's waste gasifier technology converts a wide range of waste products into syngas, which then can be applied to generate a range of energy sources at commercial scale, including electricity, heat, biofuels, synthetic natural gas and green hydrogen. Waste feedstock can come from forestry, agricultural and industrial waste and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced from municipal solid waste.