Wasabi Energy could become exceedingly attractive for the UK grid
Wasabi Energy Limited (WAS) said that the recent announcement of an agreement between the UK Government and EDF Energy over the development of the Hinkley Nuclear Power Plant, could create significant opportunities for the Wasabi Energy business within the United Kingdom.
Wasabi Energy is utilising its proprietary Kalina Cycle®technology to generate electricity from heat from industrial and renewable sources and is rolling this technology out globally.
On 21st October 2013 the UK Government in conjunction with EDF Energy released a statement confirming a commercial agreement, subject to final investment decision, to build the Hinkley Nuclear Power Plant in the UK. As part of the agreement the UK Government has agreed to a strike price of £92.50 per megawatt hour (9.25p per kilowatt hour or approximately US 15 cents) to deliver electricity to the UK grid. This proposed tariff is significantly higher than the current wholesale rate. As a result of this tariff, the Company believes that due to the lowest quartile production costs of Kalina Cycle® projects, any associated increase in wholesale electricity tariffs for Kalina Cycle® projects will reflect very positively on the returns from Wasabi’s UK based power projects.
Wasabi Energy’s Chairman, John Byrne, stated: “If the proposed Hinkley Nuclear Power Plant strike price of £92.50 per megawatt hour is reflected in the wholesale cost of electricity within the UK, the Kalina Cycle® projects being promoted by Wasabi Energy will become exceedingly attractive.”
He added, ”As the UK moves to de-carbonise the economy, large scale energy efficiency projects will become increasingly cost effective and attractive for investors and users, providing a clear platform for Wasabi Energy to expand its business in the UK.”
Under construction and commissioning Kalina Cycle® Power Plants
In conjunction with FLSmidth, a leading global cement and minerals processing engineering group, Wasabi Energy has three Kalina Cycle® power plants currently undergoing commissioning at the DG Khan cement facility, Pakistan (8.75 MWe), with Star Cement in Ras Al Khaimah, U.A.E (4.75 MWe) and a 50 kWe Ecogen unit at Matsunoyama, Japan. Concurrently with the commissioning of these three plants, Wasabi Energy is overseeing the construction of three Kalina Cycle® power plants (including a 4 MWe waste heat to power plant at the Hainan Petrochemical Facility, China) with a combined output of approximately 10 MWe. Due to rising electricity tariffs, scarcity of electricity and mandates for energy efficiency and renewable power, Kalina Cycle® technology is increasingly being selected as one of the most effective ways of controlling costs and creating additional, emission free electricity.
In a typical industrial application, utilising Kalina Cycle®technology can generate up to 20% supplementary power with no added carbon emissions. Wasabi Energy is targeting a capital cost of less than $2.5m per megawatt (power island only) with a production cost of approximately 1c per kWh.
The UK remains a significant market for Kalina Cycle®opportunities and Wasabi Energy is currently in advanced discussions with a number of leading industrial and renewable companies for the deployment of Kalina Cycle® technology within the UK.
More to come
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