EQTEC eyeing funding from Antin’s Idex for UK EfW plant

Advanced gasification specialist EQTEC looks set to win financing for its 25MW Billingham energy-to-waste plant from Antin Infrastructure Partners owned Idex.

The plant, which is being proposed for development in Stockton-on-Tees, will represent an investment of £165 million (€192m US$228m). Construction is currently expected to commence this summer.

Planning approval for the Billingham project was won in January [2021] and the project attracted a number of bidders, with EQTEC opting to progress talks with Idex.

Gaining funding from the French energy business will depend on the company completing a final review of the Billingham project, and if the investment is given the green light, Idex will own and operate the plant on completion alongside EQTEC.

Should Idex buy the project then EQTEC expects financial close to occur in the fourth quarter of 2021. EQTEC has been in talks with other financiers to assess other financing avenues for the project.

Construction work on the Billingham project is currently expected to conclude before the end of 2022.

Idex's involvement with the Billingham plant, which will be the first EfW scheme in the UK to use EQTEC technology, follows deals the company has completed to own over 40 EfW plants in France and 41 district heating and cooling networks.

Idex is also reviewing AIM-listed EQTEC's wider portfolio with a view to providing construction financing to get other projects off the ground.

EQTEC has other projects, similar to Billingham, that it is currently developing, including a plant in Deeside, which the company bought in December [2020] from Manchester-based Logik Developments, alongside another plant in Southport, which EQTEC is developing with Rotunda Group.

Construction on the Deeside and Southport projects is currently expected to commence in 2022.

MetalNRG

EQTEC's progress on the Billingham project was revealed in the company's recently released trading update, which, as well as predicting a profitable 2021, noted that the business had also entered into a framework partnership agreement with the UK-based investor MetalNRG.

As a result of the deal, the two companies will set up an SPV to develop biomass, EfW, and sustainable green energy projects in the UK and Europe.

The SPV is planning to invest in shovel ready projects that will have a capex investment of up to £15 million (€17m US$21m) and will be financed using a combination of debt and equity.

The projects will deliver revenues within 18 months of financial close and will have a minimum unlevered IRR of 11%.

The trading update also confirmed that the company has a growing potential pipeline that added opportunities worth around €316 million (£272m US$377m) over the last year and the pipeline is currently worth €657 million (£566m US$785m).The company expects to make €15 million in revenue in 2021, with positive EBITDA, making this year its first profitable one.