Fusion Fuel Consortium Awarded €36 Million in Grant Funding from Portugal’s C-05 Mobilizing Agendas for Business Innovation

Rhea-AI Summary

Fusion Fuel announced the approval of €36 million in grant funding for its Sines Green Hydrogen Valley Alliance under Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. Of this amount, €22.5 million will support the H2 HEVO-SINES project, aiming for 75 MW of electrolysis capacity. Fusion Fuel has secured land for development and plans to begin construction in 2024. An additional €3.5 million will fund R&D for its electrolysis technology. The company is also poised for further funding as a partner in other projects.

Positive

• Secured €36 million in grant funding from Portugal's Recovery and Resilience Plan.
• €22.5 million allocated for H2 HEVO-SINES project with 75 MW electrolysis capacity.
• Land secured for project development, aiming for construction start in 2024.
• Additional €3.5 million for electrolysis technology R&D.
• Potential for further funding as consortium partner in selected projects.

Negative

• None.

Investment Accelerates Industrial Decarbonization and Green Mobility Movement in Sines, Advances Commercial Green Hydrogen in Portugal

SABUGO, Portugal, Dec. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fusion Fuel (NASDAQ: HTOO) announced today that the company has been approved for a total of €36 million in grant funding for its “Sines Green Hydrogen Valley Alliance” through Component 5 (“C-05”) of Portugal´s Recovery and Resilience Plan. The component – Mobilizing Agendas for Business Innovation – is intended to align stakeholders from across the entire value chain to develop the domestic green hydrogen ecosystem. The company had previously disclosed that it had been selected for financing awards, subject to further negotiations with the Agenda Coordination Commission. These discussions have now been concluded and Fusion Fuel has submitted the respective award contract duly signed.

Of the €36 million awarded to the consortium, €22.5 million will be allocated to Fusion Fuel’s H2 HEVO-SINES project, a 3,000 HEVO-Solar facility – equivalent to 75 MW of electrolysis capacity – that will be developed, owned, and operated by the company. Fusion Fuel has already secured 121 hectares of land within the Sines area for the development of the project, which is expected to take FID and commence construction in 2024. The green hydrogen to be produced is expected to be used in decarbonizing local industry, mobility applications, and for blending into the natural gas grid. Another €3.5 million will be allocated to Fusion Fuel to fund research and development of its proprietary electrolysis technology. The balance of the funding will be allocated to other projects within Fusion Fuel’s consortium for which the company is a technology partner, including those sponsored by KEME Energy, Transition2Green, and HyLAB Collaborative Laboratory.

Fusion Fuel is also eligible for additional C-05 funding in its capacity as a consortium partner on two other projects that have already been selected by the Agenda Coordination Commission for financing awards. Those consortia expect to receive a funding decision over the coming weeks.

Pedro Caçorino Dias, Fusion Fuel’s Head of Commercial for Portugal who countersigned the terms of acceptance, commented on this achievement: “This is an important milestone, not only for Fusion Fuel, but for Portugal as well. It’s the largest funding allocation to date by the Portuguese government as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, a tangible expression of Portugal’s commitment to the energy transition effort and ambition to be at the forefront of the global green hydrogen economy. For Fusion Fuel, this decision will spur further progress on our flagship Sines project portfolio, which is the centerpiece of our European development pipeline. We expect to take FID on the first two phases of Sines, representing 12 MW, in 2023, with the 75 MW H2 HEVO-SINES project, the third phase of our Sines rollout, taking FID in 2024. With the land already secured we hope to mobilize quickly to begin the permitting process with the goal of commencing construction on H2 HEVO-SINES project in early 2024.”

Frederico Figueira de Chaves, Fusion Fuel’s Co-Head and Chief Financial Officer, added, “We have discussed at length our overarching commercial objective of finding a home for 100% of our production capacity beginning in 2023. The C-05 grants secured by the Sines Green Hydrogen Valley Alliance will give us a substantial head start and position us to deliver on that objective. The technology sales in our C-05 agenda account for 10-15% of our expected 2023 production, while H2 HEVO-SINES alone represents over 75% of our production capacity for 2024. We are thrilled to have received approval for this funding award, a decision that cements our position as a prominent player in the Sines green hydrogen ecosystem and further strengthens our market positioning as we begin to look at markets outside of Southern Europe.”

About Fusion Fuel

Fusion Fuel is an emerging leader in the green hydrogen sector committed to accelerating the energy transition through the development of disruptive, clean hydrogen solutions. Fusion Fuel has created a modular, integrated solar-to-hydrogen generator, powered by a proprietary miniaturized PEM electrolyzer, that enables off-grid production of green hydrogen. Its business lines include the sale of electrolyzer technology to customers interested in building their own green hydrogen production, the development of turnkey hydrogen plants to be owned and operated by Fusion Fuel, and the sale of green hydrogen as a commodity to end-users through long-term hydrogen purchase agreements. For more information, please visit https://www.fusion-fuel.eu

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. The words “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,” “target,” “potential,” “is likely,” “will,” “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Fusion Fuel has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that Fusion Fuel believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks (including those set forth in Fusion Fuel’s Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 2, 2022) and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by Fusion Fuel herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Fusion Fuel to predict all of them. Fusion Fuel undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Investor Relations Contact
Ben Schwarz
ir@fusion-fuel.eu

Media Relations Contact
Robert Collins
fusionfuel@gatewayir.com