PPG.L Regulatory News (PPG)

Plutus PowerGen plc / Ticker: PPG / Index: AIM

21 April 2015

Plutus PowerGen plc ('PPG' or 'the Company')

Trading Update

Plutus PowerGen PLC, the AIM listed power company focused on the development, construction and operation of flexible stand-by electricity generation in the UK, is pleased to provide a trading update highlighting the solid progress made in delivering on its original strategy to develop 200MW of flexible energy generation in the UK over the three years since the Company was re-admitted to AIM in August 2014.

Progress continues to be made on all fronts in respect of each of the four crucial pre-construction phases required before delivering a 20MW flexible generation site. These stages are as follows:

1. Source sites

2. Secure viable connection offer

3. Obtain planning

4. Secure funding

Source Sites

The pipeline under consideration by PPG represents over 500MW of generation capacity. The capacity in the pipeline will change from time to time as new sites are identified and others are discovered to be impractical for such reasons as, inter alia, having a punitively expensive grid connection or extended upstream reinforcement timescales.

Secure Viable Connection Offers

PPG currently holds connection offers for 180MW of capacity on five sites.

Obtain Planning

Of the sites where connection offers are already secured, PPG continues to progress towards securing planning permission on each. Further updates will be made as these advance. 

Secure Funding

PPG entered into agreements with Flexible Power Generation Limited ('Flexible Power') and Balance Power Limited ('Balance Power') on 17 April 2015 to provide advisory and plant management services. Accordingly, PPG has now been engaged to provide advisory and plant management services to three companies, including Attune Energy Limited. These companies have now raised equity capital totaling £10.6 million in the last six months to build three 20 MW flexible generation plants. Under the agreements, PPG will be paid £150,000 per annum by each company for these services and, in addition, PPG will be entitled to an equity stake of 45% in the capital of each company.

PPG is negotiating two further management contracts with Rockpool Investments LLP ('Rockpool') for Precise Energy Limited and Equivalence Energy Limited on the same basis as the foregoing agreements with Attune Energy Limited, Flexible Generation and Balance Power and expects to be able to update the market soon.

In addition, PPG has negotiated two offers for £2.5 million of asset finance funding for consideration by the Board of Attune Energy Limited, the first 20MW flexible power company to have received equity funding from Rockpool.

Finally, PPG management continue to negotiate other sources of finance to secure direct ownership of flexible generation facilities. 

Phil Stephens, CEO of PPG said, "Our numerous achievements over the past eight months are testament to our solid business model and our experienced and well-connected management team. Each core area of activity identified within our business model has seen progress, with our pipeline developed to facilitate flexibility; connection offers for 180MW received; and, assuming we successfully conclude the two management contracts under negotiation, we will be in a strong financial position with positive cash flow. We continue to view the future with confidence and will update the market accordingly over the coming months."

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit www.plutuspowergen.com, or contact:

Notes to Editors

Plutus PowerGen plc is an AIM listed company focused on the development, construction and operation of flexible stand-by power generation sites in the UK. At present, the market dynamics for flexible power generation are positive as a result of the continued downward pressure on capacity available to National Grid to balance supply and demand, leading to their announcements about possible power shortages over the next few years.

Flexible Power generators such as PPG offer a viable and timely solution to the power capacity shortfall in the UK. To this end, PPG is initially focusing on delivering 200MW of capacity over the next three years.

PPG has a straightforward multi-revenue stream model with large and stable counter-parties and is using project/EIS funding through SPVs to finance construction of the generation assets. This structure has the benefit of limiting dilution to plc shareholders as the assets are financed and built.