Creating clean energy through sourcing local waste is what EQTEC (LON:EQT) is all about.
It has recently announced that its first Market Development Centre has gone operational.
The global technology innovator powering distributed, decarbonised, new energy infrastructure through its waste-to-value solutions for hydrogen, biofuels, and energy generation, has started to operate the first of its planned MDC’s.
The company has now announced plans to raise £3.5m to be used for progressing MDC programme, aimed at maintaining business continuity and driving new Research & Development.
CEO David Palumbo stated that:
"This targeted Placing is focused on supporting strategic execution in 2023.
With the Italia MDC now operational, we have turned our attention to Croatia and France, growing our portfolio of well-established and highly credible partners who are developing projects and deploying EQTEC's Industrial, Utility and Municipal business solutions.
Demand remains strong, and focused execution remains imperative in the current, uncertain market.
We look forward to updating shareholders as our solutions and brand gain global traction and the business grows accordingly."
Market Development Centres
The initial centre is EQTEC Italia MDC, which is a company registered in Italy for the purpose of transforming agricultural and forestry waste into electrical power and biochar in a relatively remote and heavily agrarian community.
The company currently owns 19.99% of Italia MDC, with an option to acquire further equity in the future.
Italia MDC owns and operates a 1.1 MWe plant in Gallina, a village near Castiglione d'Orcia in Tuscany's Val d'Orcia, an area considered to be the region's most scenic.
MDCs are reference plants that demonstrate EQTEC technology in live, commercial environments, with application of EQTEC's versatile syngas to one of four, target solution models: Industrial; Utility; Municipal; or Agricultural.
The Italia MDC is focused on the Agricultural solution model, which demonstrates the potential for smaller-scale, autonomous plants in remote areas to convert agricultural and forestry biomass into value for the local community.
Initially, the Plant is converting higher-density wood waste into electrical power for export to the national grid, for which a connection has been secured with a preferential tariff.
In addition to the electricity, the Plant is producing biochar for purchase by two European wholesalers of the product. Thermal energy produced through the continuous EQTEC thermochemical conversion process is being recycled to dry the feedstock, improving the Plant's waste-to-energy conversion efficiency.
Analyst Opinion – heading for very big profits in 2024
Adam Forsyth at Longspur Research has estimates for the year to end December 2023 for revenues of €39.32m (est €5.52m) helping the company to turn €3.29m (€5.24m est) of pre-tax profits.
For the 2024 year he goes for €72.16m sales and €8.46m profits.
While over at Zeus Capital their analyst Daniel Slater estimates that the shares have a discounted cash flow valuation of 3.7p.
He goes for €24.7m sales for the current year, with an adjusted loss before tax of €0.1m.
Conclusion – the shares could easily triple within the next year
It is suggested that the Italia MDC will be a profitable, commercial-scale facility will be creating an important role in the local agricultural community – and a pilot for other such MDC’s being considered in Belise, Croatia and in Eastern France.
The £21m capitalised group’s shares, which were up to 1.18p each a year ago, are currently trading at just 0.22p having fallen 21% on the Placing news.
A medium-term uplift back above the 1p level is more than possible as the good news continues.
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