Hot commissioning begins and more than 55 pellet samples distributed

We are excited to announce that we have entered a new phase of our operations with hot commissioning on line one beginning and more than 55 pellet samples distributed to potential offtakers in the UK and across Europe.

Our CEO Ian Jones commented: “we’ve had some great feedback from potential customers that have received our pellet samples, with some talking to us about long term deals. We’re lining up offtakers in the cement and steel industry in the UK, Eastern Europe and Western Europe so we have high hopes that deals will be completed after production trials are finalised in the early part of 2023.

“We have three lines at our plant in Middlesbrough. Line one is in the hot commissioning stage, line two is in cold commissioning, and we’re in the process of finalising construction with line three. We’re on track to have all thee lines in commissioning in Q1 2023.

“We’ve experienced some significant challenges, not least our new EPC contractor having to pick up the job halfway through. I’ve been very impressed with the team at Buttimer and Elsta, who have done a fantastic job so far without any compromise to HSE.

“I’m proud the say that the samples of the pellets we’re producing have been either to the expected specification that we had planned for, or even better. As a result, conversations with potential offtakers are increasing. Interestingly, we’re in conversations with a Scandinavian synthetic gas company which is a market that has great potential for us, as well as power generation, steel and cement.

“We’re proving that our pellets are a greener and cheaper alternative to petcoke and gas. We’re also getting feedback that our pellets are easier to use than using loose SRF/RDF. Our process removes metals, stones and heavy plastics and therefore the product is more reliable and cleaner with less odour.

“The last few years have been tough for manufacturers with Brexit, Covid, the war on Ukraine and now inflation and rising energy costs to contend with. However, I’m feeling positive and buoyant going into 2023 given the number of conversations we’re having with potential offtakers and the positive feedback we’re getting from our samples.”