LONDON, UK: Powerhouse Energy Group Plc, a company pioneering integrated technology that converts non-recyclable waste into low carbon energy, has announced that it has assumed full ownership and control of the Protos plastics to hydrogen project at the Protos site near Chester in the UK.

This marks a significant milestone for the company as it now becomes solely responsible for the development of the project at Protos.

This has been brought about by Powerhouse Energy Group completing the acquisition of the entire shareholding in Protos Plastics to Hydrogen No 1 Ltd from Peel NRE Ltd for a nominal payment of £1.

Protos Plastics to Hydrogen No 1 Ltd is the Special Purpose Vehicle established for the development of the plastics to hydrogen project at the Site utilizing Powerhouse Energy Group’s technology.

The acquisition brings to an end previous discussions regarding Powerhouse Energy Group taking a 50% shareholding in the SPV. With this acquisition, the company has agreed to a variation of the IP Licence Agreement signed on 30 June 2021 with Peel.

The variation confines the beneficiary of the licence to the SPV. The Peel option to extend its exclusivity in respect of its deployment of Powerhouse Energy Group’s technology will terminate.

Moreover, the Loan Facility Agreement between Powerhouse Energy Group and the SPV will be extended for one year and as a result of the acquisition, it will now be an intragroup arrangement.

The Option Agreement between Peel and the SPV enabling the SPV to lease the Site will remain in place and will be amended to limit any annual rent reviews to between 2% and 5%, such reviews in the previous version of the lease being uncapped. The Option has also been extended to 28 March 2024, with the ability to extend for a further year on payment of an extension fee of £150,000.

A fee of £400,000 for the provision of the gas easement and £532,000 for the power export facility will be payable by Powerhouse Energy Group to Peel on entering into the lease.

The Subscription and Warrant Agreement made between Peel Holdings (IOM) Limited and Powerhouse Energy Group Plc expired on 29 April 2023.

Up until its financial reporting year ended 31 March 2022, the SPV was dormant. Financial results for 2022/23 will be reported in due course.

Keith Riley, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Powerhouse Energy Group, said that they have agreed with Peel that the company will assume full control of the project and its further development.

He added that they have already started working with Petrofac and are reviewing the engineering of the project with the view to optimizing costs and performance.

The next step will be to seek commercial agreements for the offtakes, whether this be electricity, heat, hydrogen, or other products, prior to seeking to raise finance for the construction.

This development marks a significant milestone for Powerhouse Energy Group as the company will now be solely responsible for the development of the project at Protos.

The company expresses its gratitude to the Peel team for their work to date in putting the planning permission and basic infrastructure in place, and looks forward to continuing their excellent working relationship with them as landlords of the site. Further updates on Protos are expected to be provided in due course.

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