Thermal Energy Gets $2.4M Contract To Complete Work For Construction Of THERMALONOx Demo At AEP Conesville Plant Project First of Several Expected to Showcase Low Cost, Efficient NOx Emissions Reduction
OTTAWA, Mar 8, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Thermal Energy International Inc. (CDNX:TMG.) is pleased to announce it has signed a US$1.56 million ($2.4 million CDN) contract with American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP chart, msgs) for the demonstration phase of the world's first commercial-scale THERMALONOx(TM) nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions control system.
Thermal Energy is completing final engineering, design, equipment procurement and custom component supply, to support construction of the multi-million dollar THERMALONOx(TM) system by AEP Pro Serv, Inc.(SM) at one of the 375MW units at AEP's Conesville, Ohio coal-fired power station. Thermal Energy is receiving engineering and design support from alliance partner Astaris LLC, the joint venture partnership formed by FMC Corp (NYSE: FMC chart, msgs) and Solutia Inc. (SOI).
The $2.4 million for this phase of the project is in addition to a substantial advance received from AEP toward its option to acquire up to 20% of the Company and licence for THERMALONOx(TM). The option is part of a broad alliance announced with AEP in November. Following completion of the Conesville project, AEP subsidiary Pro Serv, Inc.(SM) intends to be the exclusive licensee for sales and installation of THERMALONOx(TM) at coal-fired power stations equipped with Wet Flue Gas Desulphurization (WFGD) scrubbers in North America. Pro Serv's 2,000-strong workforce designs and builds power plants around the world and is responsible for operating and maintaining AEP's 38,000 megawatts of power generation facilities.
The THERMALONOx(TM) demonstration system is scheduled to be operational in June 2001, to reduce NOx emissions on the coal-fired unit by at least 75%. The project is also expected to demonstrate that THERMALONOx(TM) can be installed at a fraction of the cost of currently available NOx reduction technology such as Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and in a fraction of the time required for SCR, with virtually no down time for power producers.
Thermal Energy is currently involved in advanced discussions with several other utilities and power providers to fund and host additional demonstrations of THERMALONOx(TM) in the United States and Canada. The Company is encouraged by the progress of these discussions.
The demonstration sites will provide an excellent opportunity to showcase THERMALONOx(TM) in combination with a wide range of power plant configurations and scrubber technology, as one of the most efficient and economical ways power providers can to meet stringent targets to reduce harmful NOx emissions. THERMALONOx(TM) is expected to result in much lower costs of compliance being passed on to electricity consumers than other solutions such as SCR.
The Company and strategic alliance partner Honeywell Inc. (NYSE: HON chart, msgs) are also in the advanced stages of negotiation with several prospective clients for projects involving its FLU-ACE(R) energy recovery and air pollution control systems. The FLU-ACE(R) systems would enable multi-million dollar savings in the face of sharp increases in the cost of fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas and remove a wide range of air pollutants.
Due to the demands of the current and anticipated THERMALONOx(TM) and FLU-ACE(R) projects and other business activity on Management's time, the Company anticipates holding its Annual General Meeting by this summer, in full compliance with Canadian Venture Exchange requirements.
Thermal Energy International Inc. is a global leader in hi-tech air pollution control and energy recovery solutions, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. Thermal Energy provides innovative engineering, patented process licences and specialized equipment to our power generation and industrial clients. More on Thermal Energy can be found at www.thermalenergy.com. FLU-ACE(, THERMALONOx(TM) and Opportunity NOx(TM) are trademarks of Thermal Energy. Common shares of Thermal Energy are traded on the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX) under the symbol TMG.
The contents of this release have neither been approved or disapproved by the Canadian Venture Exchange.
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature regarding future events. These statements are only predictions and actual events may differ materially. Please refer to documents that American Electric Power, Honeywell, FMC Corp. and Solutia Inc. file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. |
