New joint venture in Central America

RNS Number : 6521O

ATOME Energy PLC

02 February 2023

 

2 February 2023

ATOME ENERGY PLC

("ATOME", "the Company", or "the Group")

New joint venture in Central America

National Ammonia Corporation S.A

ATOME Energy (AIM: ATOM), the only pure international green hydrogen and ammonia production company on the London Stock Exchange with current large scale projects in Europe and South America as well as hydrogen mobility projects, announces a new joint venture developing green ammonia and fertiliser projects with the focus on Central America and the Caribbean.

ATOME has entered into a joint venture with Cavendish, the renewable energy arm of Grupo Purdy S.A., one of the largest corporations in Costa Rica. ATOME and Cavendish have established a new enterprise, National Ammonia Corporation S.A ("NAC"), owned equally with Cavendish and headquartered in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, and which has a mandate to develop projects across Central America and the Caribbean with its initial focus in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is a democratic country and open economy and one of the greenest countries in the world. The country has a 99% penetration of renewable electricity and a strong agriculture sector which is one of the highest fertiliser consumers per hectare on the planet.

Cavendish, led by its CEO Silvio Heimann, is one of the the leading participants in the infant green hydrogen market in Costa Rica with complimentary aims and objectives to ATOME. The objectives of NAC align with ATOME which is focused on countries with renewable power resources and capabilities combined with access to both domestic and international end markets. Costa Rica's favourable position with ports on both the Atlantic and Pacific only separated by some 200kms of landbridge make the country a logistically excellent location.

Through NAC, ATOME aims to capitalise on its capability to roll out its large scale hydrogen and ammonia production model now being implemented in Paraguay. In this regard, material and constructive discussions are already taking place with relevant stakeholders in the areas of focus for NAC.

Olivier Mussat, CEO of ATOME, commented:"We are excited as to the potential of NAC. The establishment of NAC shows the clear intent of ATOME to deploy its innovative business model and know-how in other geographies."

"With the Villeta Project in Paraguay, we have taken a significant industry lead that we are able to roll out and replicate under the right conditions. Our partnership with Cavendish, a company established by the founders and owners of Grupo Purdy, offers ATOME a very attractive opportunity with a strong local partner to accelerate the development of a pipeline of international scale projects with strong local demand for green fertilisers."

Silvio Heimann, CEO of Cavendish, commented: "We are energised to join efforts with ATOME to deliver innovative solutions to the domestic and regional markets, as this combination of international expertise provided by ATOME´s team fits perfectly well with our ability to execute locally."

Javier Quiros, partner in Cavendish SA  and VP Grupo Purdy S.A., commented:"Cavendish was established by the Quiros Family to boost the development of the green hydrogen technology in Costa Rica and the region. We see this partnership with ATOME through NAC as a valuable opportunity to bring our vision to life".

For more information, please visit https://www.atomeplc.com or contact:

ATOME Energy PLC Nikita Levine, Investor Relations	[phone] [e-mail]
Beaumont Cornish (Nominated Adviser) Roland Cornish, Michael Cornish	[phone]
Liberum (Joint Broker) Scott Mathieson, Kate Bannatyne	[phone]
SP Angel (Joint Broker) Richard Hail, Caroline Rowe	[phone]
finnCap (Joint Broker) Christopher Raggett, George Dollemore	[phone]
Tavistock (Financial PR and IR) Simon Hudson, Rebecca Hislaire, Charles Baister	[phone] [e-mail]

The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was Peter Levine, Chairman.

About ATOME

ATOME Energy PLC is an AIM listed company targeting green hydrogen and ammonia production with over 500-megawatt of projects in Paraguay and Iceland, through its subsidiaries ATOME Paraguay, which is wholly owned, and Green Fuel ehf, in which ATOME Energy holds a 75 per cent interest, respectively.

Since its admission to AIM in December 2021 ATOME has signed its first electrolyser purchase order for its hydrogen transport Mobility Division due to start generating revenue in 2023 and signed a large scale 120MW power purchase agreement with ANDE, the state energy company in Paraguay for production of green hydrogen and ammonia targeted to start operations in 2025.

ATOME is in the process of operational planning, sourcing and negotiations with green electricity suppliers, equipment providers and offtake partners, including signed memoranda of understanding and cooperation agreements in place with key parties, to use electricity generated from existing geothermal sources in Iceland and hydroelectric power in Paraguay. All chosen sites are located close to the power and water sources and export facilities to serve significant domestic and then international demand.

The Company has a green-focused Board which is supported by major shareholders including Peter Levine, Trafigura, one of the world's leading commodity and logistics company, and Schroders, a leading fund manager.

About Cavendish

Cavendish was established in 2022 by the Quiros brothers, a family committed with the environment and with a long tradition of supporting innovation. Rooted in those convictions and in order to focus on developing new energies and decarbonising Costa Rica and the wider Central American region through long term green hydrogen investment projects. Led by the group's former CEO, Silvio Heimann, Cavendish is composed of a rapidly growing team of experienced developers in the renewable energy space and in the mobility industry. Since 2019, Cavendish has been operates a fleet of Toyota Mirais running solely on Green Hydrogen. Cavendish, along with technological partners, successfully applied for the NAMA Facility Program to develop innovative solutions for heavy duty trucks in Costa Rica. The NAMA Facility is a multi donor fund created by the UK and German governments which to date committed over EUR 668 million to 43 climate positive projects since 2012.

Founded in 1957, Grupo Purdy is a regional leader in the automotive industry. Headquartered in Costa Rica with an established a presence in the United States, its has activities beyond automotive such as insurance and financing.

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