OHIO: Velocys, the sustainable fuels technology company, is delighted to announce the launch of its new 52,500 sq. ft technology facility in Plain City, Ohio that will house the reactor core assembly and catalysis operations which form a critical part of the production process for sustainable aviation fuel (“SAF”).
The new site enables the consolidation of Velocys’ catalysis services, microchannel reactor core assembly and technology licensing under one roof. The building’s construction began in mid-2022 and was finished by the end of the year with fit out completed over the winter.
Following the completion of an Enterprise Zone agreement signed with Union County and Jerome Township, Ohio, for a package of investment incentives and a grant received from JobsOhio, Velocys has already hired a number of senior personnel.
The Company is currently occupying the space with 20 employees and installing equipment which is expected to be fully commissioned for production from mid-2024. Eventually the facility will house approximately 35 employees when in full production.
The new site has the capacity to produce approximately 48 cores per year, enough to support 12 reactors which is the typical requirement for the operation of a single commercial scale SAF biorefinery, with a capacity to convert approximately 1TWh per year of energy.
It is expected that the facility will have sufficient production capacity to meet projected orders until 2028, including those from Velocys’ two biorefinery reference projects – Bayou Fuels, Mississippi and Altalto, Immingham, UK.
As part of a 15 year lease agreement, Velocys contributed $2m towards the construction with the remaining $8m being contributed by the developer, Warner Industrial Corporate Centers 2 LLC, a subsidiary of Ohio-based developer, The Pagura Company.
The launch event will take place at 10.00am local time on Tuesday 24 October, 8520 Warner Road, Plain City, Ohio 43064 in the presence of Velocys executives, clients, board members, local stakeholders and colleagues.
Henrik Wareborn, Velocys CEO, said: “The completion of this state of the art facility is a real milestone both for Velocys and for the move to decarbonise the aviation industry. It is another critical piece in the jigsaw to go alongside the support we are receiving from regulatory and policy initiatives in all of our core markets. I would like to offer my thanks to the State of Ohio along with the many contractors who have completed this project in such a short time frame. To move from planning permission to completion in two years is a testament to all those involved and takes us a big step closer to enable our clients to produce SAF with ultra-low carbon intensity at commercial scale.”
To attend the launch or request interviews and imagery please contact:
Rae Baker / rae.baker@velocys.com
About Velocys
Velocys is an LSE-listed, international sustainable fuels technology company, traded on the AIM, providing customers with a technology solution to enable the production of negative Carbon Intensity synthetic, drop-in fuels from a variety of waste materials. Synthetic fuel is the only commercially available, permanent alternative to fossil aviation fuels. The Velocys technology is IP-protected in all major jurisdictions.
Two reference projects (Bayou Fuels, US, and Altalto Immingham, UK) are designed to accelerate the adoption and standardise the Velocys proprietary Fischer Tropsch (“FT”) technology with an integrated end to end solution, including renewable power and carbon sequestration.
Velocys is enabling commercial scale synthetic fuel production in response to the clean energy transition, with significant additional positive air quality impacts.
Velocys, the sustainable fuels technology company, is please to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023.
Velocys, the sustainable fuels technology company, is pleased to announce its unaudited preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2022 (“FY22”).
Velocys plc (VLS.L), the sustainable fuels technology company, is pleased to announce that further to the award of the grant from the UK Government’s Department for Transport (“DfT”) Advanced Fuel Funds of up to £27 million for the Altalto Immingham Sustainable Aviation Fuel (“SAF”) Project, announced on 12 December 2022, Altalto Ltd* has completed the work necessary to claim the first tranche (£7 million) of the grant up to 31 March 2023. In addition, as planned, the project has obtained the first tranche of private funding for the period from 1 April 2023 from its existing private sector participants.
The Altalto project’s aim is to deliver a commercial waste-to-SAF plant in Immingham, UK. The DfT grant and matched funding will enable Altalto to complete the Front-End Engineering Design (“FEED”) stage of the project. Following the completion of FEED and a successful final investment decision, construction will commence in 2025 with full commercial operation expected in 2028.
Since the award of the DfT grant in December, the Altalto Immingham Project has entered into a number of technology license and engineering services agreements with project technology licensors and the FEED contract with Bechtel Limited, utilising the first tranche of grant funds provided by the DfT. Pursuant to the terms of the grant, further draw down of the grant is subject to demonstration of project milestones with matched funding requirements to be met over the two years to 31 March 2025.
In March 2023, the Company announced the appointment of a leading global investment bank to advise on the financing of Velocys’ Reference Projects and to assist in obtaining the matched funding from private sector investors, which is on track to be in place during Q4 2023.
As previously announced, Velocys’ cash contribution to the Altalto Project over two years from April 2023, including its contribution to the first tranche of private funding of £1 million, is not expected to exceed £8 million, with Velocys intending to recover any funding it provides at the earlier development stages (as from 1 April 2023 onwards) following receipt of third party project investment.
* a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation.
For further information, please contact:
Velocys
Henrik Wareborn, CEO
Philip Sanderson, CFO
+44 1865 800821
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Hugh Rich (Corporate Broking)
Emma Earl (Corporate Finance)
John Prior (Corporate Finance)
+44 20 7886 2500
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited (Joint Broker)
Henry Willcocks (Corporate Broking)
Toby Gibbs (Corporate Advisory)
James Thomas (Corporate Advisory)
+44 20 7408 4090
Radnor Capital (Investor Relations)
Joshua Cryer
Iain Daly
+44 20 3897 1830
Buchanan (Financial PR)
Helen Tarbet
Simon Compton
+44 20 7466 5000
— Ends —
Notes to Editors
Velocys is an LSE-listed, international sustainable fuels technology company, traded on the AIM, providing customers with a technology solution to enable the production of negative Carbon Intensity synthetic, drop-in fuels from a variety of waste materials. Synthetic fuel is the only commercially available, permanent alternative to fossil aviation fuels. The Velocys technology is IP-protected in all major jurisdictions.
Two reference projects (Bayou Fuels, US, and Altalto Immingham, UK) are designed to accelerate the adoption and standardise the Velocys proprietary Fischer Tropsch (FT) technology with an integrated end to end solution, including renewable power and carbon sequestration.
Velocys is enabling commercial scale synthetic fuel production in response to the clean energy transition, with significant additional positive air quality impacts.
Velocys plc (VLS.L), the sustainable fuels technology company, welcomes yesterday’s consultation paper from the UK Government which contains a number of proposals aimed at supporting and financing the development of the sustainable aviation fuel (“SAF”) industry. Velocys believes this will help to support the further development of its UK reference project, Altalto Immingham and other UK pipeline opportunities, building on the recent UK government grants awarded from the Advanced Fuel Fund.
The Government has confirmed its desire to establish the UK as a global leader in the development, production and use of SAF by creating secure and growing SAF demand, kickstarting a domestic SAF industry and working in partnership with industry and investors to build long term supply. Yesterday’s consultation comes amid growing support for decarbonisation and further supports the UK Government’s ambition of reaching net zero by 2050 and its Jet Zero strategy. The Gasification plus Fischer Tropsch (FT) process has been identified as the main pathway to sustain SAF uptake to 2030 and beyond. Velocys’ patented FT process is well positioned to fulfil this demand.
The proposed SAF mandate offers a guaranteed level of demand and creates a long-term requirement to supply SAF, provides incentives to SAF producers in the form of tradeable certificates and signals the vital role SAF will play in the future of UK aviation. The tradable certificates are intended to close the gap between the cost of jetfuel and the cost of SAF, with additional certificates awarded in proportion to avoided carbon dioxide emissions.
The proposals in this consultation will help support the ongoing development and financing of the Company’s Altalto Immingham reference project. As announced in December 2022, Altalto Immingham was awarded £27 million from the Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuel Fund to support Front End Engineering Design, the final engineering phase required prior to construction, subject to matched funding.
Due to begin commercial operation in 2028, the biorefinery is expected to be one of the first commercial scale waste-to-jet fuel facilities in the UK. It will convert over half a million tonnes per day of commercial, industrial and municipal solid waste into 20 million gallons per year of sustainable fuel, with an overall lifecycle emissions saving of more than 300,000 tonnes carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to taking 140,000 cars off the road.
Henrik Wareborn, CEO, said: “Velocys’ technology is immediately ready to support commercial scale production of SAF with ultra-low carbon intensity and input from a range of feedstocks.
“There is a clear groundswell of legislative and policy support for the use of sustainable aviation fuel with the Inflation Reduction Act in the US, the ReFuelEU initiative in Europe and now today’s news from the UK. This level of government support is critical, so that industry and policy can work in parallel and at speed to reduce emissions. There is still a need for a clear mechanism to ensure price stability for SAF, but the proposed mandate is an important step in the right direction.
“Today’s news further underpins the investment case for our Altalto reference project in Immingham. The project will put the UK firmly at the forefront of the global move to decarbonise the aviation sector.”
For further information, please contact:
Velocys
Henrik Wareborn, CEO
Philip Sanderson, CFO
+44 1865 800821
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Hugh Rich (Corporate Broking)
Emma Earl (Corporate Finance)
John Prior (Corporate Finance)
+44 20 7886 2500
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited (Joint Broker)
Henry Willcocks (Corporate Broking)
Toby Gibbs (Corporate Advisory)
James Thomas (Corporate Advisory)
+44 20 7408 4090
Radnor Capital (Investor Relations)
Joshua Cryer
Iain Daly
+44 20 3897 1830
Buchanan (Financial PR)
Helen Tarbet
Simon Compton
+44 20 7466 5000
— Ends —
Notes to Editors
Velocys is an LSE-listed, international sustainable fuels technology company, traded on the AIM, providing customers with a technology solution to enable the production of negative Carbon Intensity synthetic, drop-in fuels from a variety of waste materials. Synthetic fuel is the only commercially available, permanent alternative to fossil aviation fuels. The Velocys technology is IP-protected in all major jurisdictions.
Two reference projects (Bayou Fuels, US, and Altalto, UK) are designed to accelerate the adoption and standardise the Velocys proprietary Fischer Tropsch (FT) technology with an integrated end to end solution, including renewable power and carbon sequestration.
Velocys is enabling commercial scale synthetic fuel production in response to the clean energy transition, with significant additional positive air quality impacts.