EQTEC PLC (AIM:EQT) has agreed to buy a 5MW waste-to-energy project in Drama, North Eastern Greece through a joint venture with its Greek strategic partners and Germany’s ewerGy GmbH.
Once operational, the new biomass-to-energy plant will generate about 5MW of green electricity and up to 8MW of thermal output from locally and sustainably sourced forestry waste. Due diligence, including financial and technical feasibility, has been completed, EQTEC said.
The recently established joint venture, EQTEC Synergy Projects Ltd (Synergy Aegean), has signed a preliminary agreement to buy the project and is in talks with a number of local banks to provide debt financing for the project at a loan-to-value level of between 70 and 80%.
READ: EQTEC sets up joint venture in Greece for waste-to-energy projects
Discussions with investors for equity funding of the project are also underway, with a financial close targeted for the third quarter of next year, said EQTEC.
The project is considered of public interest due to its location in one of the coldest regions in Greece, where temperatures can reach minus 30ºC and where there is no established infrastructure of heating networks. It will also create local jobs in a region where unemployment is particularly high.
"I am very pleased that our joint venture in Greece is gaining further momentum with the intended acquisition of this project in Drama, after last month signing an agreement securing two agriculture waste-to-energy projects in Livadia,” said EQTEC chief executive David Palumbo.
“All of our projects in our Greek pipeline, now totalling five and with strong potential for more, will help local farmers and forestry managers to use the waste they produce in a way that supports a circular economy and is beneficial for the environment and local communities. This will be considered a project of public interest as it addresses two critical local requirements: heating and employment.“