Oracle Power Regulatory News (ORCP)

Oracle Power PLC

15 November 2017

ORACLE POWER PLC

("Oracle" or the "Company" or the "Group")

SUBMISSION OF POWER PLANT PROPOSAL

Oracle Power PLC (AIM:ORCP), the UK energy developer of a combined lignite coal mine and mine mouth power plant located in Block VI of the Thar desert in the south-east of the Sindh Province of Pakistan (the "Project"), announces that together with its consortium partners, the two Chinese State-owned Enterprises: Sichuan Provincial Investment Group Co. Limited ("SCIG") and PowerChina International Group Limited ("PowerChina"), (together the "Parties") it has submitted to the Private Power and Infrastructure Board ("PPIB"), the regulator of the Pakistan power industry, a proposal to build, own and operate a private power plant in Pakistan of 660 MW (the "Proposal"), as the first phase of a 1,320 MW project.

The Proposal includes summary details of the Parties, technical details of the proposed power plant and the availability of fuel from Thar Block VI, financial details of the Parties, their power project experience and the Consortium Agreement ("CA").

If the Proposal is accepted by the PPIB, the PPIB will undertake to issue a letter of intent ("LOI") in respect of the power plant. The LOI requires the Parties to submit an electricity tariff application to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority ("NEPRA") and to apply for a generation licence from NEPRA. Once the tariff is determined and the generation licence issued, PPIB then issues a letter of support, which enables the Power Purchase Agreement and the Implementation Agreement with the Pakistani Government Authorities to be finalised. It is anticipated that this process will be concluded within three months.

Prior to the signing of the CA, and as announced on 27 September 2017, the Parties have agreed in-principle a memorandum of understanding ("MOU"). The finalised MOU is expected to be signed this month, to be followed thereafter by definitive agreements. 

 Shahrukh Khan, CEO of Oracle, said:

"This submission to the PPIB is a further step in the formal process to enable the construction of a power plant for an initial 660MW in Thar. The Company would like to extend its thanks to the Pakistani Authorities who have continued to support Oracle's efforts in bringing this sizeable project to financial close.

"With the financing partners now identified and keen to progress the Project in a timely fashion, the Company will continue to update shareholders on progress as milestones are achieved."

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Notes for Editors:

About PowerChina:

PowerChina is a state-owned enterprise and is the owner of Sinohydro as well as the Hydrochina Corporation, China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, Shandong Electric Power Company and numerous electric power design institutes and power construction companies. PowerChina provides planning, survey, design and engineering, finance, construction, installation, and operation and maintenance for power and infrastructure projects. In 2016, PowerChina had revenues of £36.8 billion, net assets of £62.2 billion and employed 187,000 staff. PowerChina has already successfully secured financial close on several CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) listed projects and are proceeding with these power plant project constructions in Pakistan.

About SCIG:

SCIG is a Chinese state-owned investment company which invests in and manages projects in a range of sectors, including energy resources, transportation, communications, raw materials, electromechanical, agriculture and forestry. SCIG is China's fourth largest and Sichuan Province's largest local electrical power investment company, having a total install capacity of 36.04GW. In 2016, SCIG had revenues of £0.9 billion and net assets of £3.3 billion; it employs approximately 7,000 staff.