EUROPLASMA

CHO Morcenx Power Plant Status Update - Seite 2

It is important to note that the only impact of the quantity of engines is the raw electrical power output. The process fundamentals are not affected by this delay.

Upgrade program underway:  

Over the next few weeks, the engineering and operation teams at CHO Power and CHOPEX will be entirely focused on the implementation of the next phase of upgrades, in part due to the increased availability of cash resulting from the successful fundraising in November 2014 and in part due to the additional time available because of the late delivery of engines.

The main objective of these upgrades will be to increase the throughput of waste and biomass and reach steady state operation at nominal capacity of the plant. The upgrades will be also aimed at improving environmental performance and plant aesthetics before the final acceptance by the client.

In particular, a new heat exchanger will be delivered and installed in January 2015. Slightly larger than the original exchanger, and made of more resistant materials, it will ensure continuous and reliable syngas flow and temperature control before injection into the engines.

In addition, upon recommendations made at the end of November 2014 by a reputable technical consulting firm, with strong expertise in boilers, the company has decided to invest over 700k€ into adding economizers to the recovery boiler, in order to optimize thermal efficiency at full load, and to reduce soot blows which cause instability in the process . These economizers will be delivered and installed in April 2015.

New estimate of Final Acceptance Timing: 

An updated target date for Final Acceptance will be released early 2015, as soon as the impact of the above has been fully assessed and evaluated. At this time, Management estimates a Final Acceptance date before the summer, either with all the engines at full capacity (if a shorter solution is found for other engines in the market) or with only the 2 existing engines at a proportional capacity (which would be followed by the installation of the final engines at the latest in September 2015, when the original engines are due to be delivered - this is the worst case scenario).

Pipeline projects progressing on schedule: 

Management remains very confident in the previously announced timeline of the new projects (which are in no way affected by a delay from the engine supplier in Morcenx), in particular the timing of CHO TIPER, which is supported by the recent successful tests in Morcenx. As a matter of fact, a delegation from the Thouars city and region, including 18 officials, visited CHO Morcenx beginning of December, where they were able to witness the plant in operation.