LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Powerhouse Energy said in an update on Monday that its Australian waste-to-energy venture had taken several steps forward, with a project vehicle now established and a long-term site agreement secured for its planned facility near Perth.
The AIM-traded company, which is developing technology to convert non-recyclable waste into low-carbon energy, said it would hold a 5% equity stake in the new entity, National Waste to Energy, in return for supporting the project through to a final investment decision.

It said the special purpose vehicle was set up by National Hydrogen of Australia, Powerhouse's partner under a framework agreement announced in June.

The Western Australia state government had issued National Waste to Energy an offer to lease a strategically located site in the Rockingham Strategic Industrial Area for up to 50 years.

Powerhouse said the plot was large enough to accommodate two Distributed Modular Generation trains, its proprietary system for processing waste into energy.

The scheme would be executed in three phases, beginning with the construction of a single 40-tonne-per-day DMG unit to generate power.

A hydrogen separation and compression module would be added later as market demand develops, followed by a second 40-tonne-per-day train.

National Waste to Energy had secured a power offtake agreement with the largest independent commercial energy provider in Western Australia, and agreed feedstock supply terms for sorted mixed plastics with an experienced waste management firm.

Powerhouse said it was also assisting with technical documentation for a UK-based international finance provider conducting due diligence on the project.

The company said progress was aligned to client timelines and further updates would follow.

Chief executive Paul Emmitt said the latest developments underlined confidence in the company's technology.

"The creation of the SPV, the signed offer to lease and the progression of funding are significant steps forward in our collaboration with National Hydrogen and a further huge endorsement of our DMG process," he said.

"We are delighted to be an incoming shareholder in the SPV; working on this project with National Hydrogen, as well as further building on our relationship with them and supporting them to deliver other projects."

At 1331 GMT, shares in Powerhouse Energy Group were up 3.44% at 0.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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