Paraguay progress with two MOUs signed with potential long-term customers

Atome Energy release

ATOME Energy (AIM: ATOM), the only pure international green hydrogen and ammonia production company on the London Stock Exchange with current large-scale industrial projects as well as hydrogen mobility projects in South America and Europe announces the entry into two significant Memoranda of Understanding in Paraguay. The MOUs are timed to coincide with the Invest in Paraguay conference currently being held by the Government of Paraguay in association with the Inter-American Development Bank and at which ATOME's Chair, Peter Levine, is speaking.

National Civil Aviation Authority of Paraguay ("DINAC")

The Company was approached by the National Civil Aviation Authority of Paraguay which owns and manages Paraguay's airports and the National University of Asunción ("UNA") with regard to the potential use of sustainable aviation fuels such as hydrogen and its green fuel derivatives to assist in moving towards the decarbonisation of both groundside and airside operations in Paraguay. 

A Memorandum of Understanding has now been signed between ATOME and DINAC and UNA under which the parties have agreed to work together with a view to identifying the potential for use of the Company's products in the airports of Paraguay as well as co-operation on research projects and educational events promoting the benefits of the green fuels produced by the Company.

With aviation being one of the fastest growing sources of emissions globally, a number of countries are now mandating the increased use of sustainable jet fuels from 2030. The International Civil Aviation Organisation has stated that hydrogen will be one of the important components in the toolkit of aviation in moving towards a cleaner, low-carbon future.

The Paraguay River and Maritime Shipowners Centre ("CAFYM")

ATOME and the River and Maritime Shipowners Centre, the Association of Paraguay barge owners and operators, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under which the parties will work together to examine how Paraguay's barge fleet, which at over 2,200 barges is the third largest in the world, can substitute expensive diesel imports and be decarbonised with the use of domestically produced green fuels including through replacing the existing fossil fuel engines with hydrogen, methanol or ammonia or converting the existing engines to use green fuel wholly or partially.

Paraguay's river logistics are essential to the Mercosur region and the vital link to access international export markets. The Paraguay-Paraná waterway is 3,400km long and transported over 22 million tonnes of goods in 2019, such as Paraguayan soy bean or Brazilian iron ore, and trade on the waters is now forecasted to double by 2030.

It is increasingly acknowledged that ammonia and methanol will be the fuel of choice in the future for maritime purposes, with ammonia being the only one with 100% zero emissions to fulfil the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) aim of materially reducing carbon emissions.

Peter Levine, Chair, commented: "These memoranda demonstrate the active interest being shown for ATOME's future production and the medium to long-term demand potential as the world out of necessity seeks to replace reliance on fossil fuels in diverse areas of industry.

"Whilst e-fuels in aviation is a long-term project, ammonia maritime engines are currently under development by major manufacturers such as MAN and Wartsila and expected to come to market as early as 2025, at which time ATOME will have started increasing production from its first projects.

"We look forward to our partnership with DINAC and CAFYM and play our part in helping decarbonise Paraguay and increase the competitiveness of Mercosur trade as we help reduce dependence on expensive fossil fuel imports"