Eqtec agrees proposed joint venture funding with Optima Bank

Hydrogen and biofuels-focussed technology developer Eqtec announced the receipt and acceptance of non-binding heads of terms with Optima Bank for a debt facility on Tuesday, to support the construction of a 1MWe waste-to-energy project at Livadia, in Boeotia, Greece.

The AIM-traded firm said the proposed facility would provide senior debt of up to 75% loan-to-value of the total capital required for the project.

It said the heads of terms were agreed between Optima and Eqtec Synergy Projects - the company's joint venture with ewerGy and ECO Hellas - subject to Optima’s final credit approval.

The balance of the project’s capital was currently held as equity by Synergy Projects, but the joint venture partners were currently in discussions with institutional funds focussed on energy transition infrastructure for the sale of project equity on Livadia, and other projects being jointly pursued in the broader portfolio.

Eqtec said the project would see the construction of a waste-to-energy gasification plant in Livadia that, once operational, was expected to produce a minimum of 1MW green electricity from around 7,500 tonnes of mixed agricultural waste from local farms.

“We are pleased and impressed with the persistent dedication of the Greek private and public sectors in supporting technology innovation for net zero energy solutions,” said chief executive officer David Palumbo.

“Particularly as economies and societies struggle in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, we are encouraged by this sort of support in favour of innovation that will transition communities away from fossil fuels by providing local, baseload energy from local waste.

“We see this business model gaining traction in so many of our target markets and look forward to accelerating its implementation across Greece and beyond.”

At 1414 BST, shares in Eqtec were down 5.72% at 0.64p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.