Irish gasification technology and engineering company EQTEC announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 1.2 MW waste-to-energy gasification plant in Karlovac, a deal worth 1.2 million euros.
The statement from the company said that the acquisition was carried out through Synergy Projects, a joint venture between EQTEC and its Croatian project development partner Sense ESCO. The acquisition was funded by the company via an 1.2 million euros loan that is intended to be converted into privately placed bonds to meet local corporate requirements.
The acquisition is in line with the company’s strategy to recover decommissioned gasification plants employing other technologies, in order to further establish it as the dominant and reliable technology partner by increasing the number of operating plants employing EQTEC Advanced Gasification Technology in the near term. The Karlovac plant was not able to achieve the designed operational availability and had to be closed. EQTEC said it is expected to be updated and put back into operation by the end of 2022. The plant is expected to produce 1.2 MW of green electricity from some 7,500 tons of locally sourced wood chips and forestry waste biomass per year from regional forests.
EQTEC estimates that the plant will generate an unlevered IRR of 12 % and annual EBITDA in excess of 700,000 euros. The contract sales value to EQTEC for the plant is expected to be some 4.5 million euros in technology and engineering.
Last month, EQTEC acquired 1.2 MW waste-to- energy gasification plant in Belisce in eastern Croatia. The acquisition was funded by EQTEC through a 550,000 euros loan and a 1.65 million euros 10-year loan provided by a third party.
