LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Hydrogen and clean energy company PowerHouse Energy Group announced on Wednesday that its development partner Waste2Tricity has concluded negotiations and signed an agreement with Peel Environmental for an 124 year lease of a plot on the 54-acre Protos energy hub site.
The AIM-traded firm described it as an "important milestone" in its plan to build a waste plastic-to-hydrogen and power facility.

It said it was expected to the be the first full scale commercial site for its proprietary hydrogen-from-waste DMG technology, which the board described an important step in its commercialisation strategy.

PowerHouse and Waste2Tricity would now seek to complete the arrangements for the sale and license of the DMG technology for the site, as well as Waste2Tricity completing the power purchase agreement and a plastic feedstock supply, necessary to finalise its funding.

The Protos site, located near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, was being developed by Peel Environmental - a subsidiary of the Peel Group.

PowerHouse said the £700m energy hub clustered complementary businesses, including energy intensive industries, associated supply chain and energy generation.

"This is a significant strategic development for PowerHouse Energy as our development and operational partners Waste2Tricity and Peel both share the vision for hydrogen in the North West," said PowerHouse chief executive officer David Ryan.

"We look forward to concluding our own contractual arrangements shortly which together with the plastic feed and energy use agreements currently being progressed by our partners are all stepping stones to bringing the development to financial close.

"We believe the Protos site to be an ideal location to showcase our DMG technology in action on a fully commercial basis and demonstrate the considerable value this technology delivers, paving the way for other contracts in the pipeline to come to fruition."

Myles Kitcher, managing director of Peel Environmental, added that his company was "delighted" to be working in partnership with Waste2Tricity and PowerHouse Energy to deliver the "UK first" waste-to-hydrogen project.

"This project sums up the vision for Protos - a closed loop solution where innovative technologies are used to create value from waste and provide low carbon energy sources.

"Not only will this help tackle the problem of waste plastics, it will provide a local source of hydrogen which could be used as a clean and low cost fuel for buses and HGVs across the region.

"We see this as the first of many opportunities to roll out the technology across other Peel sites in the UK."

John Hall, chairman of Waste2Tricity, also said his firm was "pleased" to be developing this site using the DMG technology.

""e believe it will be the first of many in UK and elsewhere globally.

"The Protos site is ideally located in the North West, with discussions underway with initial suppliers of unrecyclable plastic feedstock including from other potential tenants within the park.

"We look forward to progressing to build this facility with PowerHouse Energy and Peel and the bright future ahead for responsible energy recovery."

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