Pressure Tech Regulatory News (PRES)

21 January 2014

Contract win for Chesterfield BioGas

Pressure Technologies ("Pressure Technologies" or the "Group") is pleased to announce that its Alternative Energy division, comprising Chesterfield BioGas Limited, has been awarded a £4.2 million contract to supply, install and commission biogas upgrading equipment for a UK biogas to grid ("BtG") project. The project is forecast to be completed early in the Group's 2015 financial year.

Utilising Greenlane® Totara+ water-wash upgraders and capable of processing up to 5,000 cubic metres of biogas per hour, this BtG project is the largest of any so far announced or currently operating in the UK. The Totara+ upgraders will clean the raw biogas, produced by anaerobic digestion of the waste organic material, to more than 98% pure biomethane, matching the purity criteria required of natural gas being piped to households and commercial premises. The water-wash process is proven in operation over the last 20 years. More than 75 sites are operating successfully around the world using Greenlane® technology, 30 of which employ the Totara model.

In August 2013, the Group announced two other Totara orders, totalling £4.6 million, for projects in Widnes and Beccles, Suffolk. The Widnes project, for ReFood UK Ltd, will handle commercial food waste and the Beccles project, for FLI Energy, will use energy crops and vegetable wastes. Both projects are due for completion in the current financial year.

Together the three projects demonstrate the versatility of the Greenlane® system in processing gas from diverse organic feedstocks. 

The pipeline for the Alternative Energy Division remains strong. Negotiations are at an advanced stage on further BtG projects, which may result in additional contracts being secured, sales from which will benefit either the second half of the current financial year or the first half of the 2015 financial year. This gives the Board grounds for significant optimism for the division.

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Company description

Pressure Technologies is an AIM listed, leading designer and manufacturer of speciality engineering solutions for high pressure systems serving large global markets. The Group is organised into three divisions: Cylinders, Engineered Products and Alternative Energy.

Cylinders

Chesterfield Special Cylinders is a global market leader in the design and manufacture of speciality high pressure, seamless steel gas cylinders for the offshore oil and gas, defence, industrial gases and alternative energy markets and retesting and refurbishment services.

The company has unparalleled industry knowledge, gathered over the last 100 years' trading. As a trusted supplier with unrivalled expertise, Chesterfield Special Cylinders plays an integral role in the project design and engineering process, working closely with its customers on design solutions for high pressure systems.

The core activity of Chesterfield Special Cylinders is the design and manufacture of Air Pressure Vessel systems for oil rig motion compensation systems and deepwater offshore platforms. This is closely followed in importance by activity in the naval market. Chesterfield Special Cylinders provides cylinders for a wide range of applications in submarines and surface ships to a significant proportion of the world's navies.

The company's product and process knowledge has led, in recent years, to an expansion from manufacturing into value added services, making full use of expertise in the business. Chesterfield Special Cylinders has developed a number of service offerings for the inspection and revalidation of cylinders including a novel "in-situ" testing service, which is driven by a new BSI standard for the inspection of hard to reach/impossible to move gas tubes. Chesterfield Special Cylinders is the only company capable of delivering this strict new testing regime worldwide.

More information is available on the company's website www.chesterfieldcylinders.co.uk.

Engineered Products

This division comprises Al-Met Limited ("Al-Met") and the Hydratron group of companies ("Hydratron").

Al-Met is a niche manufacturer of specialised, precision engineered valve wear parts used in the oil and gas industries, acquired by Pressure Technologies plc in 2010. Its products are used in high-pressure choke and flow control valves, designed to regulate flow volumes in extremely demanding applications in the subsea and surface oil and gas industries. The business, established in 1985, has developed a market leading capability in precision machining carbides, high grade stainless steels and super alloys. More information is available on the company's website www.almet.co.uk.

Hydratron designs, manufactures and sells a range of air operated high pressure hydraulic pumps, gas boosters, power packs, hydraulic control panels and test rigs. The business, which was also acquired in 2010, operates out of two locations situated in the UK and USA. Hydratron also has an extensive network of distributors in key locations around the world. Formed in 1981, Hydratron has established itself as a leading supplier of quality high pressure equipment to the oil and gas industries. The full range of Hydratron products may be viewed at www.hydratron.co.uk.

Alternative Energy: 

Chesterfield BioGas Limited was founded in November 2008, following the signing of a co-operation agreement with Greenlane® Biogas Limited, the world leader in biogas upgrading, which gives Pressure Technologies exclusive rights, in perpetuity, to market and manufacture Greenlane® equipment in the UK and Eire.

Chesterfield BioGas provides turnkey solutions for the cleaning, storage and dispensing of biomethane for injection into the gas grid or use as a vehicle fuel. In 2010, Chesterfield BioGas installed the UK's first biogas upgrader supplying biomethane to the national grid at a Thames Water site in Didcot. A second upgrader was delivered in October 2012.

For more information visit the company's website www.chesterfieldbiogas.co.uk.