Project Funding Update
Perth, Nov 19, 2015 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Altech Chemicals Limited (Altech/the Company) (
ASX:ATC) is pleased to provide an update on the progress of financing activities for its proposed high purity alumina project (HPA Project).
Highlights
- Letter of Interest (LOI) for project financing received from German bank
- ECA: Interest in senior-debt project financing utilising German export credit insurance cover
- Highly experienced international project and export finance specialist
Following a series of meetings, a major German bank has submitted a Letter of Interest (LOI), expressing its interest to arrange senior-debt project financing for the Company's HPA Project. The LOI contemplates senior-debt project financing that will maximise the use of export credit insurance cover under the German federal government backed project finance federal export guarantees.
The bank is a leading German export and project finance specialist with experience in the debt financing of mining and chemical projects worldwide, also in the Asia-Pacific region and projects similar to Altech's proposed HPA Project.
ECA is an instrument for the promotion of German exports. It provides a cover to bank lenders to insure against the risk of an export loan and is administered by Euler Hermes, the German Export Credit Agency (ECA). ECA was identified as applicable to Altech's HPA Project because the majority of the plant and equipment will be sourced from German and other European Union manufacturers and German group M+W is the appointed engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
The first step in the ECA approvals process is for the Company, the bank and M+W to make a presentation to Euler Hermes for its assessment of the HPA Project, from which an initial determination of the eligibility for ECA funding will be made.
Altech's managing director, Mr Iggy Tan said that the interest shown by the German bank to arrange the senior debt financing of the HPA Project is an important preliminary step for debt financing. "There is still a way to go in the due diligence process and there is no guarantee that ECA eligibility or final funding will eventuate, however the interest of this highly experienced and well regarded bank in our project at this early stage is significant."
About Altech Batteries Ltd
Altech Batteries Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is a specialty battery technology company that has a joint venture agreement with world leading German battery institute Fraunhofer IKTS ("Fraunhofer") to commercialise the revolutionary CERENERGY(R) Sodium Alumina Solid State (SAS) Battery. CERENERGY(R) batteries are the game-changing alternative to lithium-ion batteries. CERENERGY(R) batteries are fire and explosion-proof; have a life span of more than 15 years and operate in extreme cold and desert climates. The battery technology uses table salt and is lithium-free; cobalt-free; graphite-free; and copper-free, eliminating exposure to critical metal price rises and supply chain concerns.
The joint venture is commercialising its CERENERGY(R) battery, with plans to construct a 100MWh production facility on Altech's land in Saxony, Germany. The facility intends to produce CERENERGY(R) battery modules to provide grid storage solutions to the market.
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