ACTA.L Regulatory News (ACTA)

Acta S.p.A.

("Acta" or "the Company")

Business Update

Acta S.p.A. (AIM: ACTA), the clean energy products company, announces the following update on its commercial activities and business outlook ahead of the Company's Interim Results that are expected to be announced on or around 26 September 2012.

Commercial Progress

During the first half of 2012 the Company has made good progress with each of the commercial partnerships previously announced, as well as developing a number of important new relationships for the integration and distribution of its water electrolysers and stacks.

Following the completion of the gas purification module, which allows the Company's electrolysers to produce hydrogen with a gas purity of 99.9995%, Acta has started production of the new units for shipment to its strategic partner Heliocentris Energy Solutions AG. The high purity gas electrolysers will be sold into the global educational and laboratory usage market, as envisaged under the partnership agreement signed with Heliocentris in February 2012.

In Asia, the Company's project with its Taiwanese partner Asia Pacific Fuel Cell Technologies (APFCT) has progressed to the beta test phase with the Taiwanese government. Once testing is complete, it is intended that a fleet of up to 2,000 fuel cell scooters and over 100 refuelling stations, powered by hydrogen generated onsite by Acta's electrolysers, will be deployed on a Taiwanese "green island"tourist destination. Acta is also undertaking a partnership with APFCT to demonstrate a zero-carbon transportation solution in Honolulu, Hawaii.

On 8 May 2012, Acta announced an exclusive agreement to supply hydrogen generation components for incorporation into an electrolyser for consumer fuel cell applications for the mass market. The validation phase of this agreement is proceeding to date in line with the timeframe indicated in May with good technical and commercial results. Further details will be announced in due course.

On 26 June 2012, Acta announced that it had partnered with SEFCA in Australia to address the fuel cell back-up power opportunity in the Australian telecommunications market, together with renewable energy storage applications for "time-shifting". Acta has created a three-party collaboration with an important Taiwanese system integrator to support this partnership and the Company's first field trials in the Australian market are expected to commence within the next few months. SEFCA has described the Company's technology as "the hydrogen breakthrough that the market in Australia has been waiting for".

The commercial promotion of the Company's PureFlame gas welding system has also continued to yield good results. Acta is exploring subcontract production arrangements for this product with a well-established electrolyser producer based in the Far East, which is also interested in the integration and distribution of the Company's products in the Asian markets. It is the Company's intention to subcontract the production and assembly of the balance of plant of the electrolysers while keeping the production of the electrolyser stack and core technology in-house, in order to optimise its manufacturing operations as production volumes increase.

Further commercial developments with current and potential partners in China, the USA, Canada, Europe, India and Indonesia are also progressing well, and the Company has recently increased its commercial and operational management team to meet the demands of this growth phase.

Product Development

As announced on 23 April 2012, at the time of the Hannover Messe exhibition, Acta has been successful in completing the development of a number of important new products and product modules during the first half of 2012. These include the 1,000L / hour and 200 L / hour rack-mounted hydrogen generators which had been requested by our system integration partners, particularly for fuel cell back-up power applications where such systems are typically rack-mounted. Acta's rack-mounted onsite hydrogen generators can now be installed into existing rack-based fuel cell back-up power systems, greatly facilitating system integration and product adoption.

In addition, Acta has completed the development of a high efficiency 200 L / hour electrolyser to be powered directly from photovoltaic panels without energy conversion loss, and a rainwater module for the resupply of water to the electrolyser from rainwater. This is another key advance for the Company's product range, allowing service-free operations for back-up power systems in remote locations (no delivery of hydrogen, diesel, methanol or even water).

Outlook

Following the £2.03m (gross) fundraising completed in March 2012 the Company has maintained careful cost controls and resources are being deployed prudently as Acta moves towards large volume commercial sales. The Acta Board believes that the Company's current commercial partnerships will continue to develop strongly, with new supply contracts being concluded and with continued growth in product volumes as the adoption phase continues. The commencement of field trials and onsite product demonstrations in the short term is expected to bring enhanced visibility to the Company's outstanding technology, as will the negotiation and announcement of new partnership agreements with some of the key players in the fuel cell industry.

The Board looks forward to notifying the market of these exciting developments in due course.

- ENDS-

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About Acta S.p.A.

Acta S.p.A. is a developer and manufacturer of a range of clean energy products. Its product line includes market-leading compact hydrogen generators (electrolysers) which produce pure, dry and compressed hydrogen in a way that is easy-to-use and completely safe, and the Company is committed to integrating its award-winning electrolysers with renewable energy sources.

Acta's cost-competitive electrolysers are based on its proprietary, inexpensive environmental catalyst and hydrogen conversion technologies. These products help overcome the barriers to the adoption of fuel cells, most notably the lack of a local hydrogen infrastructure. They are also applicable in non-fuel cell hydrogen and oxygen applications, including oxy-hydrogen gas welding systems, where the Company is generating significant commercial interest.

Acta's low-cost hydrogen generators represent a unique breakthrough in electrolyser technology. They can operate using mains power or intermittent renewable energy, and produce clean, dry hydrogen already at pressure for use in fuel cell and other applications. This unique combination of features avoids the system complexity and energy cost of further cleaning, drying and compression of the hydrogen, resulting in a simple, compact, low-cost and highly efficient system that is ideally suited for energy conversion and storage applications. In such applications, which include battery replacement and renewable energy storage, low cost and high efficiency are critical to commercial viability, while hydrogen compression is essential for the energy density of the system. No other water electrolyser currently on the market offers this combination of benefits.

Acta is focusing on delivering its products to markets with high volume demand for high-value environmental solutions (transport, back-up power, energy and leisure). It is accelerating the commercialisation of its products via partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), distributors, and agents in these sectors, and intends to drive down production costs at high volume via contract manufacturing.

Acta S.p.A. is based near Pisa, Italy, and was admitted to trading on AIM in October 2005.

www.actagroup.it

About SEFCA Pty Ltd

SEFCA (Sustainable Energy Fuel Cells Australia) is an Australian-owned company specialising in the design, supply, installation and support of fuel cells for back up and prime power applications. Applications include stationary and mobile back-up power, continuous off-grid power, hybrid power solar/fuel cell solutions, and other applications such as traffic control and security systems. www.sefca.com.au.