Powerhouse reports solid progress on first DMG plant

Waste-to-hydrogen technology company Powerhouse Energy updated the market on operational progress on Thursday, reporting that Peel L&P Environmental had started site preparation for the first commercial ‘DMG’ plant at Protos, with initial ground works.

The AIM-traded firm said Peel had also embarked on the second phase of infrastructure works at Protos, including the preparation of access roads and laydown areas for the works and utility service installation on Protos Plot 10b, where the DMG plant would be installed.

It said the site work was ongoing while contract and post-front-end engineering design (FEED) engineering definition proceeded for the site.

That included negotiations with potential construction delivery contractors, safety system procurement and the implementation of operational safety systems based on a hazard and operability analysis (HAZOP) study for the DMG process for the Protos application, which had been successfully completed by a joint team of Powerhouse, Peel and the engineering consultants.

It also consisted of the provision of operational definition material for a future operations and maintenance contract tender, and further refinement to the construction measures to be applied in line with a modular build strategy.

Powerhouse said it had successfully recruited qualified and experienced operational and technical staff in the current quarter, building the team in engineering with senior process engineers, application engineers and support staff joining the team to be based at the Thornton research and development centre, supporting further technical advancements, Protos project activities and new business development.

To facilitate expansion of the DMG technology, Powerhouse said it had developed a design for a solution that could export larger volumes of hydrogen, broadening the scope for Peel to engage with smaller fleet consumers of hydrogen who required supply to their own or third party off-site locations.

In that context, Peel said it had been progressing two sites through pre-planning engineering, to incorporate the new DMG technology improvements.

Consultation with the local council authorities was expected to be initiated shortly.

“We welcome the commencement of activity at Protos with clearance of the site where the first commercial scale plant will be built, which will help accelerate the UK’s clean energy transition,” said executive chairman Tim Yeo.

“Powerhouse is getting down to business ahead of intense activity expected in 2021 as demand for our waste plastic to hydrogen technology gains rapid momentum.

“The company has strengthened the board and appointed a number of key experts to our operational team.”

At 1341 GMT, shares in Powerhouse Energy Group were up 10.67% at 3.32p.