Uskmouth Conversion Project Pre Application Consultation

The information contained in this announcement is inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596 / 2014. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited is Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer of SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited.

29 May 2020

SIMEC ATLANTIS ENERGY LIMITED
(“Atlantis” or the “Company”)
 
Uskmouth Conversion Project
Pre Application Consultation

SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited, a global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects, today announces the commencement of the 28-day Pre Application Consultation (“PAC”) for the Uskmouth Conversion Project, a planning milestone for the project. The PAC will run from 01^st June 2020 to 29^th June 2020.

The Uskmouth Conversion Project proposes to convert the existing coal fired Uskmouth Power  Station located in Uskmouth, Newport, Wales to operate as a power plant generating electricity through the combustion of waste derived fuel pellets over an extended 20 year operational design life.  The Uskmouth Conversion Project is considered a major development under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and constitutes an Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) development.

The construction phase of the Uskmouth Conversion Project will require the following works:

• Proposed Development – planning permission is sought for the new external infrastructure required to transport, store and convey the fuel pellets that includes:

– erection of silos for storage of fuel pellets;
– erection of a de-dusting building;
– extension to the rail unloading facility to allow for fuel pellets to be offloaded by rail;
– new above ground conveyors to transfer pellets into the existing power station; and
– ancillary developments at Uskmouth Power Station.

• Power Station Upgrade – the works required for fuel combustion equipment conversion and plant life extension to be conducted inside the existing power station buildings

Once the Proposed Development works and Power Station Upgrade are completed the Uskmouth Conversion Project will be able to commence operation through the combustion of fuel pellets to generate electricity.

Atlantis welcomes the Welsh Government’s recent amendment to planning legislation regarding PAC requirements during COVID-19 restrictions which came into effect at midnight on 19^th May 2020. Following on from this advice, the Uskmouth Conversion Project PAC will be hosted online on the Simec Atlantis Energy website:  www.saerenewables.com/uskmouth-power-station-planning-application/  where the following documents will be made available:

• planning application
• planning statement
• design and access statement
• non technical summary
• Environmental Statement

The Environmental Statement (“ES”) reports on the findings of the EIA process and accompanies the planning application for the construction of the Proposed Development that together with the Power Station Upgrade will facilitate the delivery of the operational phase of the Uskmouth Conversion Project.

These documents will be available for review and comment by the public for 28 days from 01^st June 2020 to 28^th June 2020. Following completion of the PAC, the PAC report will be submitted alongside the full planning application to the local authority, Newport City Council (“NCC”) for determination. The statutory timescale for EIA planning application determination is 16 weeks and therefore the Company expects that NCC would have concluded the determination of the planning application by Q4 2020.

Atlantis has been developing the Uskmouth Conversion Project since June 2018 when the Company acquired the project from SIMEC UK Energy Holdings Limited. Since then the design of the project has evolved and been optimised in close consultation with the regulators and local stakeholders. The design evolution has sought to address potential environmental impacts and the following is a summary of the key changes that have been incorporated into the project design.

• Atlantis and project partners SIMEC Subcoal Fuels (“SSF”) will not progress the fuel pellet production plant previously considered for construction on land adjacent to the Uskmouth Power Station, removing the requirement to import raw waste feedstock into Newport significantly reducing road traffic and transport impacts.
• fuel pellet production plants are under development at alternative locations in England. It is proposed that fuel pellets will be transported to the Uskmouth Conversion Project via rail from these plants. Fuel pellet delivery by rail replicates previous operational activity at the coal fired Uskmouth Power Station, contributing to a significant reduction in road transport.

In addition to addressing and mitigating potential environmental impacts of the project, the publicly available planning documents set out the economic, commercial and regional benefits of the Uskmouth Conversion Project, which include:

• contribution to meeting the continuing UK need for underlying ‘on demand’ power generation, required to supplement generation from intermittent renewable energy sources and enable more renewable generation to be brought onto the National Grid;
• sustainable repurposing of existing infrastructure to retain and create long term direct and indirect employment required to convert and operate the Uskmouth Conversion Project for a further 20 years;
• offering local industry in the Newport area the opportunity to purchase more affordable and sustainable energy to facilitate the growth of new and existing industry clusters and create and preserve long term employment across those local industries;
• providing an efficient and sustainable method for recovering value from the waste, facilitating diversion of non-recyclable waste away from landfill; and
• demonstrating the potential to convert coal-fired power stations in the UK and worldwide to use a waste derived fuel pellet, thus providing a new opportunity for sustainable baseload generation.

-ENDS-

Enquiries:

SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited	via FTI Consulting
Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hutt, Chief Financial Officer
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)	+44 (0) 20 7894 7000
Rick Thompson David Porter Luke Philippou
FTI Consulting	+44 (0)20 3727 1000
Ben Brewerton Josh Atkins Chris Laing

Notes to Editors

SIMEC Atlantis Energy 

SIMEC Atlantis Energy is a global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects with a diverse portfolio in various stages of development. This includes a 77% stake in the world’s largest tidal stream power project, MeyGen, and 100% ownership of the 220MW Uskmouth power station conversion project

www.saerenewables.com