Heads of Agreement- 10MW of Fuel Cell Development

RNS Number : 0890K

AFC Energy Plc

14 April 2015

 

14 April 2015

AFC Energy PLC

("AFC" or the "Company")

AFC Executes Heads of Agreement with Bangkok Industrial Gas for 10MW of Fuel Cell Development in Thailand

AFC Energy plc (AFC.L), the industrial fuel cell power company, is pleased to announce it has executed its first Heads of Agreement in Thailand to initiate a programme of commercial fuel cell deployment with a leading Thai industrial gas company, Bangkok Industrial Gas Co. Ltd ("BIG").    

Highlights

·    Initial 10MW of installed AFC fuel cell capacity to be developed across three phases

·    First phase of 2MW to be installed by the end of the 2016 (subject to permitting)

·    Joint venture to be evaluated during 2015 between BIG and AFC to develop the initial fuel cell facility from BIG's own sources of hydrogen in Rayong Province, Thailand. 

The Heads of Agreement establishes a framework for the assessment and deployment of an initial 10MW of fuel cell capacity utilising surplus hydrogen from BIG owned hydrogen pipelines and related facilities in the Rayong Province of Thailand.  The Rayong province is a high consumer of energy; the ability to utilise surplus hydrogen from BIG to create a new, clean source of energy for the region is fully consistent with the Thai Government's policy of clean energy development and facilitating the deployment of new and innovative technologies within the country's energy mix.

BIG and AFC will over the next few months be actively evaluating the possibility for a successful deployment of the AFC fuel cells into the Rayong Province through initial techno-economic feasibility studies before committing any capital expenditure to the projects. 

BIG and AFC have agreed an indicative (cumulative) programme of fuel cell deployment in accordance with the following schedule:

(i)         2MW - operational by the end of 2016

(ii)        5MW - operational by the end of 2017

(iii)       10MW - operational by the end of 2018

There is clear potential that following the successful completion of this programme, both BIG and AFC will assess a number of other fuel cell deployment opportunities across Thailand.

Mr Adam Bond, AFC's Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are extremely pleased to be working with such a prominent and innovative Thai partner in BIG in the deployment of AFC's world leading alkaline fuel cell into Thailand.  The country has long been identified as an important location for AFC, both in terms of the market for fuel cells, but also as a possible location for long term manufacturing and fabrication.  Our collaboration with BIG is a further important statement of intent to focus our business on short term industrial fuel cell deployment, particularly in Asia, with this Heads of Agreement further demonstrating the progression of AFC "out of the lab" and into the commercial sector."    

Mr. Piyabut Charuphen, BIG's Managing Director, said: "BIG continues to strive to develop its business in ways that not only leverage our market leading position in industrial gases, but does so in a sustainable and environmentally sensitive manner.  The collaboration with AFC Energy delivers on not only our desire to partner with one of the world's leading fuel cell developers, but also create clean and sustainable power for the people of Thailand.  We are very pleased to be partnering with AFC to evaluate  this exciting initiative".    

For further information, please contact:

AFC Energy plc Adam Bond (Chief Executive Officer)	[phone]
Zeus Capital Limited - Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Phil Walker, John Treacy                       Alex Davies, John Goold	[phone]
M C Peat & Co LLP - Joint Broker Charlie Peat	[phone]
Lionsgate Communications - Public Relations Jonathan Charles, Rachel Rigby	[phone]

About AFC Energy

AFC Energy plc is fast approaching commercialisation for its proven low-cost alkaline fuel cell system ("KORE"), which converts hydrogen into 'clean' electricity. AFC's key project POWER-UP  will demonstrate the world's largest alkaline fuel cell system at an  industrial gas plant in Stade, Germany. The date for the demonstration of the 240kW KORE system has been fast tracked to December 2015, representing the final phase of AFC's pre-commercialisation technical development programme and creating the platform for the Company's global commercial fuel cell deployment. For further information, please visit our website: www.afcenergy.com

About Bangkok Industrial Gas

Bangkok Industrial Gas was founded in 1987 and is a joint venture between several prominent international and Thai investors.  For more than two decades, since its establishment to support the country's petrochemical industry hub in Rayong province, BIG has been recognized as Thailand's leader in industrial gases. BIG has extensively delivered the best-in-class values to serve Thai industries via the combination of local market experiences and global expertise from its shareholder investors. Currently, BIG enjoys the largest production capacity, biggest inventory storage capacity, advanced supply chain management, and best-in-class safety standard and reliability in Thailand.  For further information, please visit BIG's website: www.bigth.com

 

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