Alter NRG (NRG-T) Feb 24, '14 has signed agreements with Bijie City Green Environmental Energy Ltd. (BGE) to provide a Westinghouse plasma gasification solution for $15-million (U.S.). The project is expected to be a 600 tonne per day facility that will produce 15 MW of electricity using municipal solid waste from the City of Bijie, China. This project has been officially designated as a key project by the Provincial Government of Guizhou due to the anticipated environmental benefits. The project has progressed steadily through business development and environmental permitting for the past 4 years. The project has obtained provincial approval and is awaiting the People's Republic of China ("PRC") final approvals which are expected in Q2 of 2014. After the initial start-up, expected in mid-2016, BGE intends to double the capacity of the facility with a second gasifier.
According to Jeffery Hu, Principal at BGE, "We are very excited to be kicking-off our first project in China which we believe provides the best-in-class waste management solution with better environmental performance compared to other alternatives. In addition to the Bijie project, BGE has additional projects in China which it also continues to advance. This project will also provide a testing platform for clean coal applications. We believe that the Westinghouse Plasma Gasification Technology will play a significant role in China Clean Coal Applications."
Walter Howard, Chief Executive Officer of Alter NRG states that "having a simultaneous second large-scale project commencing is a significant commercial milestone as it will provide additional cash flow for 2014. This illustrates the viability of our market-leading Westinghouse Plasma Technology in other jurisdictions and the large pipeline of projects that continue to advance around the world."
Alter NRG and its wholly owned subsidiary Westinghouse Plasma Corp. will provide a site license, gasifier equipment, related control, instrumentation, and engineering services for approximately USD$15 million. Alter NRG expects to realize the majority of the revenue over the next 18 months. Alter NRG has executed and received a mobilization payment on the engineering contract and executed memorandums of understanding on the site license and equipment sale that will be finalized once PRC approvals are obtained. The final equipment package is subject to change based on the engineering work performed. The project will not proceed past the engineering phase valued at approximately $1 million until final PRC approvals are obtained. The project intends to convert the vitrified slag output from the Westinghouse Plasma Gasifier into block foam insulation which can be sold at a much higher sales value. BGE has patented a process to convert the slag which has passed technical certification in the China market and the resulting foam insulation can be sold as a Class A, non-combustible building material. |
