At this afternoon’s COVID-19 press conference, Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, announced the establishment of a new Jet Zero Council and confirmed Government support for Velocys.
Velocys, the sustainable fuels technology company, today welcomed the announcement from Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, on the establishment of a new Jet Zero Council.
Making the announcement at the daily briefing in Downing Street, the Secretary of State referenced Velocys’ Altalto waste-to-jet-fuel project and said:
“Our goal – within a generation – will be to demonstrate flight across the Atlantic, without harm to the environment.
“And today we’re backing a company called Velocys who are building a plant for aviation biofuels in Lincolnshire.”
Responding, Henrik Wareborn, Velocys CEO, said:
“Today’s announcement on the formation of a Jet Zero Council shows that a new era of net zero carbon flying is on a credible path, at a time when we need it more than ever. This follows news earlier today that our Altalto waste-to-jet fuel facility – the first of its kind in the UK – has received additional funding from Government and formally received planning permission, meaning it could be producing sustainable aviation fuel in commercial scale by the middle of this decade.”
Velocys has appeared on Sky News’ flagship daily business programme Ian King Live.
During a live interview, CEO Henrik Wareborn outlined Velocys’ sustainable fuels technology and the waste-to-jet-fuel process that will take place at the planned Altalto facility in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire. The Altalto project will utilise unwanted household waste (destined for landfill) by unlocking its trapped energy to turn it into sustainable aviation fuel. The project recently gained resolution to grant planning permission from North East Lincolnshire Council.
During the segment, which also showcased a 3D animation of the proposed plant, Henrik Wareborn said that technology such as Velocys’ will be key to the decarbonisation of the aviation industry, and more broadly support the green recovery.
Velocys plc (VLS.L), the sustainable fuels technology company, is pleased to announce that resolution to grant planning permission has been given to Altalto Immingham, the UK’s first commercial waste-to-jet-fuel plant, by North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC)’s Planning Committee. A formal decision notice will then be issued subject to the completion of standard legal agreements with NELC. All statutory consultees have indicated their acceptance of the plan.
The proposed Altalto Immingham plant is to convert hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year of non-recyclable everyday household and commercial waste, otherwise destined for landfill or incineration, into cleaner burning sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The project is a collaboration between Velocys, British Airways PLC and Shell International Petroleum Company Limited (“Shell”). It is expected to create 130 permanent skilled jobs and many more during construction.
The fuel, based on technology supplied by Velocys, offers net greenhouse gas savings of around 70% for each tonne of conventional jet fuel it displaces. It would also improve air quality, with up to 90% reduction in particulate matter (soot) from aircraft engine exhausts and almost 100% reduction in sulphur oxides.
Subject to additional funding and financial close, construction is targeted to begin in 2022, and the facility could be producing fuel from 2025.
Henrik Wareborn, CEO at Velocys, said:
“It’s fantastic news that the Planning Committee has approved our waste-to-jet-fuel project, which will be a first for the UK. Sustainable aviation fuels are essential for decarbonising this challenging sector and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. That’s why Velocys are calling on the Government to co-ordinate policy between departments to help us fund a fleet of world leading sustainable aviation fuel facilities in the UK.”
Aviation Minister Kelly Tolhurst said:
“It’s great to see the industry leading the way in creating new technologies to help achieve our target of net zero emissions by 2050, while also bringing new jobs to the local area.
“Innovative technologies – like the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuels – firms up the UK’s position as a leader in aviation, and shows the determination the industry has in continuing to operate, but in a more environmentally-friendly way.”
Cllr Philip Jackson, Leader, North East Lincolnshire Council, said:
“This development cements North East Lincolnshire’s place at the heart of the UK’s green industrial revolution, an area already renowned for its fuels production and offshore wind industry.
“For such a high profile project to choose North East Lincolnshire just shows how competitive we are for the investment market, and with projects like this choosing our patch just shows how we can work with the private sector to make locating here an easy choice.
“I look forward to seeing what this will mean in terms of real jobs for local people, both during the construction phase and when the project is operational in the longer term.”
For further information, please contact:
Velocys
Henrik Wareborn, CEO
Andrew Morris, CFO
Lak Siriwardene, Head of Communications & Sustainability
+44 1865 800821
Numis Securities (Nomad and joint broker)
Stuart Skinner
Emily Morris
Alamgir Ahmed
+44 20 7260 1000
Canaccord Genuity (Joint broker)
Henry Fitzgerald-O’Connor
James Asensio
+44 20 7523 8000
Radnor Capital (Investor relations)
Joshua Cryer
Iain Daly
+44 20 3897 1830
Field Consulting (PR)
Robert Jeffery
+44 20 7096 7730
Certain information contained in this announcement would have constituted inside information (as defined by Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) prior to its release as part of this announcement.
Notes to Editors
Velocys is an international UK-based sustainable fuels technology company. Velocys designed, developed and now licenses proprietary Fischer-Tropsch technology for the generation of clean, low carbon, synthetic drop-in aviation and road transport fuel from municipal solid waste and waste woody biomass.
Velocys is currently developing two reference projects: one in Natchez, Mississippi, USA (incorporating Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) and one in Immingham, UK, to produce fuels that significantly reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and key exhaust pollutants for aviation and road transport. Originally a spin-out from Oxford University, in 2008 the company acquired a US company based on complementary technology developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Velocys is headquartered in Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Velocys plc (VLS.L), the sustainable fuels technology company, is pleased to announce that it has secured a further £1m funding for the Altalto waste-to-fuels project from British Airways PLC and Shell International Petroleum Company Limited (“Shell”). This £1m will be payable before 30th June 2020.
The proposed Altalto Immingham plant is to convert hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year of residual waste into sustainable fuels, mainly aviation fuel. The project is being executed under a Joint Development Agreement (“JDA”) between British Airways, Shell, and Velocys. This JDA has now been extended as planned in order to support the continued technical and commercial development of the project.
British Airways and Shell have each now been granted an option to take a one-third share in the equity capital of Altalto Limited (a subsidiary of the Company) at a strike price of £1, as a pre-cursor to a full Shareholders’ Agreement for Altalto Limited in due course.
Henrik Wareborn, Velocys CEO, said:
“We are very pleased to have the continued support of British Airways and Shell as we move forward together with the Altalto project. Their commitment, during these uncertain times for the global economy, underlines the importance of this project for the aviation and fuels industries as we strive together to achieve net zero carbon emissions.”
For further information, please contact:
Velocys
Henrik Wareborn, CEO
Andrew Morris, CFO
Lak Siriwardene, Head of Communications & Sustainability
+44 1865 800821
Numis Securities (Nomad and joint broker)
Stuart Skinner
Emily Morris
Alamgir Ahmed
+44 20 7260 1000
Canaccord Genuity (Joint broker)
Henry Fitzgerald-O’Connor
James Asensio
+44 20 7523 8000
Radnor Capital (Investor relations)
Joshua Cryer
Iain Daly
+44 20 3897 1830
Field Consulting (PR)
Robert Jeffery
+44 20 7096 7730
Certain information contained in this announcement would have constituted inside information (as defined by Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) prior to its release as part of this announcement.
Velocys is an international UK-based sustainable fuels technology company. Velocys designed, developed and now licenses proprietary Fischer-Tropsch technology for the generation of clean, low carbon, synthetic drop-in aviation and road transport fuel from municipal solid waste and waste woody biomass.
Velocys is currently developing two reference projects: one in Natchez, Mississippi, USA (incorporating Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) and one in Immingham, UK, to produce fuels that significantly reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and key exhaust pollutants for aviation and road transport. Originally a spin-out from Oxford University, in 2008 the company acquired a US company based on complementary technology developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Velocys is headquartered in Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Forbes discusses green power and the impact COVID-19 is having on waste and recycling collections in the UK. The article proceeds to comment on the development of greener fuels and the efforts of the airline industry. Velocys’ Immingham project (Altalto) is highlighted, as part of IAG’s overall investment in this field through British Airways.
Altalto would host the technology process to enable the production of sustainable aviation fuel from household waste.
The full Forbes magazine article can be read here.
Velocys plc (VLS.L), the sustainable fuels technology company, is pleased to announce the approval of a $709,000 loan from the Pay-check Protection Program awarded by the Small Business Administration (SBA), a US Federal Agency.
The SBA program is part of the Federal stimulus package known as the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act to offer help to small businesses in the USA during the Covid-19 crisis.
This unsecured loan has been awarded to support Velocys’ US payroll costs in the short-term. It is an unsecured loan with a 2-year maturity and 0.98% interest. No interest or principal payments are due in the first six months. The loan is however eligible for “forgiveness”, becoming non-repayable upon application by Velocys after 60 days from receipt if used for retaining US employees and maintaining US payroll costs of at least this amount in the period until the end of June 2020. Velocys is confident that it will meet the criteria for this “forgiveness”.
Velocys expects to draw down on the loan shortly.
For further information, please contact:
Velocys
Henrik Wareborn, CEO
Andrew Morris, CFO
Lak Siriwardene, Head of Communications & Sustainability
+44 1865 800821
Numis Securities (Nomad and joint broker)
Stuart Skinner
Emily Morris
Alamgir Ahmed
+44 20 7260 1000
Canaccord Genuity (Joint broker)
Henry Fitzgerald-O’Connor
James Asensio
+44 20 7523 8000
Radnor Capital (Investor relations)
Joshua Cryer
Iain Daly
+44 20 3897 1830
Field Consulting (PR)
Robert Jeffery
+44 20 7096 7730
Notes to Editors
Velocys is an international UK-based sustainable fuels technology company. Velocys designed, developed and now licences proprietary Fischer-Tropsch technology for the generation of clean, low carbon, synthetic drop-in aviation and transport fuel from municipal solid waste and waste woody biomass.
Velocys is currently developing projects in Natchez, Mississippi, USA (incorporating Carbon Capture Use and Storage) and Immingham, UK to produce fuels that significantly reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and key exhaust pollutants for aviation and road transport. Originally a spin-out from Oxford University, in 2008 the company acquired a US company based on complementary technology developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Velocys is headquartered in Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Velocys continues to progress the planning application on behalf of Altalto Immingham Limited to develop the first commercial scale sustainable aviation fuel facility in the UK.
We have been working closely throughout with North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) and with all statutory consultees as part of the usual planning process.
As part of this process, an Addendum to the Environmental Statement has now been submitted, providing additional information and technical clarifications to assist in the consideration of the application by consultees. The further information presented in the Addendum will now be subject to the usual 30-day consultation period. Alongside the existing Environmental Statement, it will form part of the formal planning application to NELC and can be viewed on the NELC website here.
Through our positive dialogue with all consultees and the Environmental Statement Addendum we are confident that we have provided all necessary additional information at this stage, and we look forward to completing the planning process.
Velocys recently met with the Altalto project’s local MPs to discuss progress in the development of the sustainable aviation fuel facility in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire. The planned facility will sit in the constituency of Martin Vickers, Member of Parliament for Cleethorpes; and neighbour the constituency of Great Grimsby, represented by Lia Nici.
Following the meeting, Martin Vickers MP and Lia Nici MP said:
“We had a really encouraging e-meeting with representatives from Velocys last week to discuss their plans for developing Europe’s first waste-to-jet fuel facility in Immingham. The Humber Estuary is already home to several world leading businesses using industrial processes to develop innovative green technologies. We look forward to working with Velocys and their project partners Shell and British Airways to ensure they become the latest addition to the Humber’s green industrial hub.”
The Financial Times highlighted Velocys’ UK project to make sustainable aviation fuel from household waste in an article ‘Greener biofuels battle for take-off to cut aviation emissions’ (30-Mar-2020).
The article can be read on the FT website:
Responding to the Government’s publication of the policy paper ‘Decarbonising transport: setting the challenge’ in which the Government commits to publishing a consultation on net zero aviation later this year, Henrik Wareborn, CEO at Velocys, commented:
“We warmly welcome the Government’s commitment to publish a net zero aviation consultation as part of its ambitious plans to tackle emissions in the transport sector announced yesterday. Aviation is the most challenging transport sector to decarbonise because the energy density and performance of battery technologies cannot come close to matching liquid hydrocarbon fuel, particularly over longer distances. Sustainable aviation fuel will therefore play an essential role if we are to continue flying and cut emissions. Our proposed waste-to-fuels facility on the Humber Estuary will be the first of its kind in Europe and, with Government support, could be producing cleaner burning jet fuel in just four years’ time.”