Progress Update: CoalSwitch® Commercial Deployment

Active Energy Group PLC

18 December 2025

 

This is a Reach (i.e. non-regulatory) announcement and the information contained is not considered to be material or to have a significant impact on management's expectations of the Company's performance

18 December 2025

Active Energy Group plc

("AEG" or the "Company")

Progress Update: CoalSwitch® Commercial Deployment and Polish Municipal CHP Engagement ICE

Active Energy Group plc (AIM: AEG OTC: ATGVF) provides a further update on the commercial deployment of its CoalSwitch® technology, following the Company's recent announcement regarding the completion of its strategic review and the renewed collaboration with ICE (Indigenous Canadian Energy). 

Ongoing Strategic Focus and Poland Engagement

As part of the Board's continued focus on maximising long-term value from CoalSwitch®, AEG senior management recently travelled to Poland to progress discussions with ICE, led by CEO Richard Spinks, and to assess live commercial deployment opportunities within the municipal heat and power sector.

The visit formed part of AEG's wider strategy to move CoalSwitch® beyond evaluation and into practical, revenue-generating applications through partnerships with experienced operators and credible off-takers. Management's on-site engagement reinforced the Board's view that CoalSwitch® can play a meaningful role in coal-replacement markets when deployed alongside proven SEBP expertise.

Progress Toward the First ICE/CoalSwitch® Validation Plant

During the visit, AEG and ICE met with senior management of a large privatised municipal combined heat and power ("CHP") operator supplying approximately 40% of the city's district heating requirements. The CHP operator formally invited ICE, in partnership with AEG, to locate the first ICE/CoalSwitch® validation plant within an existing industrial building adjacent to its operational CHP boilers.

This proposed co-location would allow CoalSwitch® and ICE Black Pellets™ to be validated under real-world operating conditions, using existing infrastructure and live heat and power demand. The opportunity to demonstrate SEBP fuels in a functioning municipal CHP environment was viewed by AEG as a significant step toward unlocking longer-term commercial value.

 Key Outcomes of the Engagement

AEG, ICE and the CHP operator have agreed in principle to:

·      Proceed with the commissioning of the ICE/CoalSwitch® validation plant, co-located with the CHP facility;

·      Establish an initial off-take framework for SEBP fuels;

·      Develop a joint commercial framework to support future scale-up opportunities;

·      Progress engineering and commercial documentation for a potential larger-scale facility at the same site, subject to approvals and funding.

The validation plant, which has already been procured, is expected to become operational within approximately six months. It will provide performance data, feedstock validation and operational benchmarks that are critical to assessing future commercial deployment.

Once operational, the facility is intended to act as a reference site for AEG and ICE, enabling international partners and off-takers to evaluate CoalSwitch® performance and assess replication opportunities in other jurisdictions.

Market Context and Strategic Opportunity

Poland remains one of Europe's most coal-dependent district heating markets, with CHP operators under increasing regulatory and economic pressure to transition to lower-emission fuels. CoalSwitch® and ICE Black Pellets™ offer a potential pathway to reduce coal dependency while utilising existing infrastructure.

ICE and AEG's discussions in Poland demonstrated that demand for viable coal-replacement solutions materially exceeds near-term supply. The Board believes this dynamic creates an attractive opportunity to build longer-term value through disciplined project selection, validated deployment and collaboration with experienced partners such as ICE.

Paul Elliott, Executive Director of AEG, commented:

"The Poland visit was an important step in demonstrating how AEG is actively seeking to maximise value from CoalSwitch®. Seeing the technology positioned within a live municipal CHP environment, alongside ICE's operational expertise, reinforced our belief that there is a compelling long-term opportunity to be developed.

Our management team is focused on progressing CoalSwitch® in a measured and commercially credible manner. Working with ICE and Richard Spinks, who bring deep sector knowledge and operational capability, gives AEG a unique opportunity to accelerate deployment while managing risk."

Richard Spinks, CEO of ICE, commented:

"I am pleased to be working closely with AEG's new management team. Their disciplined focus on technical integrity, commercial viability and real-world validation provides a strong foundation for progressing CoalSwitch® in a practical and credible manner.

ICE has developed deep technical expertise in the CoalSwitch® process, and the opportunity to deploy a validation plant alongside an operating CHP facility provides an effective proving environment. This will allow ICE Black Pellets™ and CoalSwitch® to be demonstrated under genuine operating conditions, generating valuable performance data ahead of larger-scale commercial deployment.

The validation facility is intended to serve as an international reference site, enabling municipal and industrial partners to assess feedstocks, review performance and evaluate replication of the commercial plant design within their own markets.

This represents an important milestone for CoalSwitch®, and ICE is pleased to be partnering with AEG on this deployment as we work together to support the transition to scalable, lower-carbon energy solutions."

Enquiries:  

Active Energy Group Plc	Paul Elliott (CEO) Pankaj Rajani (Non-Executive Chairman)	[e-mail]
Website	LinkedIn	'X'
www.aegplc.com	www.linkedin.com/in/active-energy-group-plc/	(@aegplc) / X

 

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