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14 Apr 2020 07:00
The information contained in this announcement is inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596 / 2014. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited is Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer of SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited.
Tuesday 14 April 2020
SIMEC ATLANTIS ENERGY LIMITED
("Atlantis" or the "Company")
COVID-19 update
SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited ("Atlantis"), the global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects, is today providing the following Company update on the impact on the business of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Whilst the situation across our portfolio of projects requires constant monitoring and reassessment, at present we have seen minimal disruption to the tidal business; with MeyGen in Scotland continuing to export power reliably to the grid. In addition, it remains our expectation that we will be able to maintain our current contractual commitments to deliver equipment and services to our clients in Japan and Scotland this year.
The Green Highland Renewables ("GHR") business has 45 contracts with operating hydro schemes that require constant monitoring from our operations centre in Scotland. A reduced team of engineers will be maintained to enable us to provide essential services to all of our customers and this will continue unaffected throughout this period. These services can all continue to be performed whilst maintaining social distancing guidelines. GHR has three hydro projects under construction which have been temporarily shut down in line with current government policies.
Uskmouth Power Station conversion project work programmes are under review as we adapt to the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing workplace disruption. Given this backdrop, it is reasonable to expect some delay to our target financial close date which was previously set as Q3 2020 for the project; however, essential project development works are continuing in order to minimise any delay. In addition, the combustion system design contract awarded to Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe GmbH in October 2019, is ongoing and at this stage remains on-schedule to be completed this summer. The application for the conversion's permit variation for the new fuel was submitted to Natural Resource Wales in December 2019 and is now open for public consultation. Further updates on revised timelines to financial close will be provided to the market when available.
The Uskmouth site has a live 132kV banking station along with the station's 393MW of generating station assets (220MW of which will be converted as part of the planned Conversion project). A team of essential engineering, safety and security staff will, at all times, be maintained to look after this critical infrastructure in readiness for future operation.
Outside of the staffing requirements described above, management has this week placed 27 employees, who are currently unable to work, on furlough and it will seek to make an application to cover the cost of these furloughed employees through the UK Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Additional employees may be placed on furlough in the coming weeks in response to the changing situation.
To support the Company and preserve liquidity through the current period of uncertainty, the Chairman and all Non-Executive Directors will take a 20% cut in their fees and will defer payment of the remaining fees with immediate effect and the Chief Executive Officer and executive team will take a 20% salary deferral. Management are also actively implementing additional cost saving measures across our business including further reductions in project, overhead and people costs in order to preserve cash and provide the business with maximum flexibility.
-ENDS-
Enquiries:
SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited | via FTI Consulting |
Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hutt, Chief Financial Officer |
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Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) | +44 (0) 20 7894 7000 |
Rick Thompson David Porter Luke Philippou |
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J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Joint Broker) Michael Wentworth Stanley | +44 (0) 20 7742 4000 |
FTI Consulting |
+44 (0) 20 3727 1000 |
Ben Brewerton James Styles Josh Atkins
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Notes to Editors
SIMEC Atlantis Energy
SIMEC Atlantis Energy is the global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects with a diverse portfolio in various stages of development. This includes a 77% stake in the world's largest tidal stream power project, MeyGen, and 100% ownership of the 220MW Uskmouth power station conversion project
www.simecatlantis.com
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