Ryan Mee, CEO of Fulcrum Metals, reviews FY23 and progress on the Gold Tailings Hub in Canada. Watch the video here.
Thurgaton: VLS should have government backing: Velocys announced in 2017 that they were in the process to obtain a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Loan Guarantee of $200M. I checked and did not find any more mention of this loan guarantee in any annual report since the 2017 one...Another question for Holland and Wareborn.
The Lakeview plant has been inactive for a couple of weeks. Here is the reason why:
In Oregon, the Lake County Examiner newspaper reports that Red Rock Biofuels confirmed it has run out of funding for its first of a kind aviation biofuel project, so is leveraging its $300 million in existing property and assets to raise funding through bonds. Redesigns meant to boost production capacity by 15% have led to additional costs, while the overall original scope of the project is about 75% complete but with the new scope it’s about 60% or so. Depending on when the bonds are sold, the facility could still be online by February 2022.
Very good analysis, Thurgaton. In addition, I would say that all potential investors will only start investing in SAF plants when their return is assured by legislation and subsidies.
GosiaS: I had a phone call while I was preparing my post...hence I did not see your reply.
I hope this one works: https://www.basf.com/global/en/who-we-are/organization/group-companies/BASF_Venture-Capital/publications/2018/P-18-612.html
Here is a presentation describing their technology, which is gas fermentation: https://www.aiche.org/system/files/p504514.pdf
GosiaS: please study that LanzaTech technology. Your statement "there is nothing unique about LanzaJet proposition than old good spirit to fuel exchange - cheap and fast way, no much fuss R&D required" is false. Here is a good summary on why BASF invested in LanzaTech: https://www.basf.com/global/en/who-we-are/organization/group-companies/BASF_Venture-Capital/portfolio/LanzaTech-Inc.html.
Rather than speculate let's ask questions:
- F4C: why has nothing been decided about LanzaTech and Altalto in the last 10 months.
- JZC: their website shows the minutes of the 1st meeting. Where are the minutes of the 2nd one?
- FEED: If there is an issue, what is it?
FEED (Front End Engineering Design) means Basic Engineering which is conducted after completion of Conceptual Design or Feasibility Study. At this stage, before start of EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction), various studies take place to figure out technical issues and estimate rough investment cost.
Why not, IM?
IM: why wrong?
Management should explain why the FEED is delayed. Velocys raised £20 million in June last year, of which 1.4 million was earmarked for the FEED: "(ii) £1.4 million to complete the process engineering phase of FEED for the Altalto Immingham Project until the first quarter of 2021;" (https://www.velocys.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Velocys-plc-Result-of-Placing-and-Retail-Offer.pdf). Why do they have to wait until later later in 2021 to launch the Altalto FEED, "subject to confirmed UK Government policy support and the addition of new investment partners in the project." This is unacceptable and a material event which management and the board should disclose.
Another highly paid, unproductive executive who will not contribute to project development...this will cut Velocys' runway by at least 6 weeks...
Old news. Have a look at my previous posts with an interview of RRB's CFO who says that start up is towards the end of the year.
Manternach, Red Rock Biofuels' CFO in February 10 interview: "When construction is complete then the process of commissioning the plant will begin; Manternach said that since Red Rock is a one-of-a-kind facility there is no exact time frame for how long that will take, though it may be 6 – 12 months. Once the commissioning process is completed then the plant will be fully operational." (http://www.lakecountyexam.com/news/work-continues-at-red-rock-despite-rumors/article_7eb9cf92-6b26-11eb-b1a7-47cc48d569ab.html}
So, the plant is expected to be operational somewhere in the 4th quarter on 2021.
Hold on, Mcmather. Red Rock Biofuels is not yet in operation. So, the VLS reactors are sitting idle at the Lakeview site. Red Rock and Shell will be fully confident with the technology at scale when the plant is operating at full capacity while producing quality products.
In the absence of company news, here is an interesting paper on the financing of SAF: https://www.legalflightdeck.com/2021/03/articles/aviation/greening-pains-how-are-we-going-to-finance-sustainable-aviation-fuel/#page=1
Interesting announcement...but no information on the carbon source. The Rheinland Refinery will have plenty of green hydrogen but to produce SAF one needs CO if one uses the Fischer-Tropsch route.
Have also a look at Shell webpage on low carbon fuels - a nice summary: https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/new-energies/low-carbon-fuels.html
I saw that as well when I posted this paragraph from the circular. We should ask for a clarification.
Here is the answer - from the June 26, 2020 Placing Circular:
On 18 December 2018, a site was secured for the project. The site of approximately 80 acres, near
Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, is in an enterprise zone and earmarked for industrial
development within the local plan. Development is subject to planning consent, which was granted
subject to conditions in May 2020. Access to the site is by way of an option agreement, entered into
by Altalto Immingham Ltd (“Altalto”), a subsidiary of Velocys, on 18 December 2018. The
agreement gives Altalto the right, for a three year period, to acquire Rula Developments (Immingham)
Limited, the company which owns the site, from its current shareholders. The decision as to whether
to proceed with the acquisition of the Immingham site will be made as part of the final investment
decision, currently scheduled for 31 March 2022. In the event that the Company, in consultation with
its partners, decides not to proceed with the acquisition of the site, the liabilities that may be incurred
by the Company as a result are not expected to be material to Velocys.
I agree, Expatbrat, if Velocys want to win to need to move fast. LanzaJet aside, Fulcrum and Velocys are practically identical: both are gasifying the municipal waste with TRI, use FT to convert the syngas in a product stream which has to be upgraded to jet fuel. The difference is the FT technology: Fulcrum uses the BP/Johnson Matthey technology, Velocys have their own FT catalyst and reactor technology. The investors will have to evaluate both FT technologies, and they will make a decision based on their risk tolerance. The BP/JM was demonstrated in Nikiski, Alaska on a 300 bpd scale and was operational between 2003 until 2009. Velocys' demo plant was the ENVIA operation which ran only for about 10 months but never at the design capacity of 250 bpd. It produced the first finished product in June 2017, reached 200 bpd in October 2017 on their way to 250 bpd. The plant never reached that goal, also because one of the two reactors sprung a lead in May 2018. The leaking one was taken offline and the plant continued at less than half capacity until September 2018 when the JV decided to close the plant. At the other hand, it took JM about 10 years to land the first licensee for their technology.