Investor News
Shareholder Update - Indian Partner Visit
Environmental Clean Technologies Limited (ASX: ESI) (ECT or Company) is pleased to provide the following update on the forthcoming visit to Australia by its India Project partners NLC India Limited (NLC) and NMDC Limited (NMDC), in addition to updates on relevant supporting activities.
Key points:
- Indian partner visit dates changed to the week of 21 May to accommodate partners' travel plans
- Target to complete project financial close by 30 June 2018 remains on track, including:
- Intent to sign the Master Project Agreement (MPA) during May visit
- Completion of detailed sub-agreements
- Indian government requirements
- Coldry basic design package complete
Indian Partner Visit – Week commencing 21 May 2018
Further to the Company’s announcement of 29 March 2018 confirming the visit dates for next week, there has been a recent shift in timing to accommodate an additional travel requirement by NMDC personnel.
ECT India Chairman and Managing Director, Ashley Moore commented, “NMDC has other interests in Australia and sought to combine the two commitments. As such, in responding to an official invitation from ECT Chairman Glenn Fozard, NMDC has requested that the visit be scheduled for the week commencing 21 May.
“The Master Project Agreement (MPA), which the parties intend to formally sign during the visit, represents India’s largest ever government-backed joint R&D Project with an Australian company; a milestone for both India and Australia in demonstrating positive support and bi-lateral benefit under the Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperative Agreement (AICECA).
“The Australian High Commission in India, together with Austrade and AusIndustry have provided invaluable advice, support and assistance to ECT over the past three years, garnering Indian Government support for the Project at cabinet level.
“Part of our planning for the visit has entailed seeking government meetings in recognition of the role they’ve played in supporting ECT in the development of our technologies and specifically in the formation of our project in India. Next week’s Federal budget activity was proving problematic, limiting the availability of relevant Ministers, so the shift in visit dates has the additional benefit in allowing us to skip budget estimate activity next week, with the new timing to coincide with Parliamentary sitting dates. This may improve our chances of coordinating high-level meetings in Canberra to witness the MPA signing.”
The visit will also entail a tour of the Company’s R&D facility northwest of Melbourne, official meetings with ECT Company Executives and Board members, and potential meetings with State and Local Government officials in Victoria, subject to availability.
Master Project Agreement (MPA) remains on track
Consistent with previous announcements the parties remain on track to meet their mutually agreed target of reaching Project financial close by 30 June 2018.
This entails:
- Signing of the MPA
- Completion and execution of detailed sub-agreements
- Indian government requirements
The Company will continue to provide updates should circumstances change.
India Project – Basic Design
On 23 March 2018, the Company announced the completion of the basic design package for the Matmor component of the India Project.
The Company is pleased to advise the completion of the next milestone, the basic design package for the Coldry component.
The completion of the Coldry basic design includes integration with the Matmor component, in addition to the broader site layout and allows the project to proceed to detailed design, ahead of fabrication, construction and commissioning, which is scheduled to take approximately 12 months following financial close.
The above diagram shows the intended layout of the Integrated Coldry-Matmor plant adjacent to NLC’s power station, including raw material storage and provision for future expansion.
The India Project consists of an R&D phase (pictured above), followed (upon success) by a commercial phase. The aim of the R&D phase is to deliver a pilot scale demonstration of ECT’s two leading technologies under development; ‘Matmor’ and ‘Coldry’.
Following commissioning, the integrated Coldry-Matmor pilot plant will execute a detailed test program to generate performance data, optimise operational parameters and inform the scale-up of the technologies.
For further information, contact:
Glenn Fozard – Chairman [email protected]