Powerhouse Energy Group (AIM:PHE) has signed a letter of intent with the University of the West Indies (UWI) Five Islands Campus and CSE Partnership to explore establishing a waste-to-energy research, testing and innovation centre in Antigua and Barbuda.
The AIM-listed group develops the DMG (Distributed Modular Generation) process, which converts waste plastics and other residual waste streams into hydrogen and syngas, and also owns the revenue-generating engineering consultancy Engsolve.
The proposed centre would focus on sargassum seaweed, which the company describes as a significant environmental and economic challenge across the Caribbean, alongside wider waste and energy resilience issues facing the region.
Under the tripartite arrangement, UWI would contribute academic and research capability, Powerhouse would provide its DMG technology plus engineering, technical design, feedstock-testing and commissioning expertise, and CSE Partnership would bring regional relationships and project coordination.
The scope of Powerhouse's eventual participation, including any technology deployment or commercial terms, remains to be developed and is subject to securing funding and agreeing definitive arrangements between the parties.
The initiative is intended to be developed with external funding, and the next phase will focus on building the research framework, identifying priority feedstocks, assessing the technical requirements for a testing facility in Antigua, and engaging stakeholders and funding sources.
"Subject to securing the necessary funding and agreeing definitive arrangements, our ambition is to help develop a platform that could have relevance not only for Antigua and Barbuda, but potentially for communities throughout the Caribbean and other island states facing similar challenges," said David Hitchcock, Powerhouse's interim executive chairman, who took the role in September after Paul Emmitt stepped down as chief executive at the company's annual general meeting.
The letter of intent extends Powerhouse's push into the Caribbean, where the company has previously reported a no-win, no-fee sales and marketing agreement with feedstock testing already underway.
It also follows a run of partnership activity this year, including the JUST-CIRCLE Horizon Europe innovation project coordinated by Brunel Business School, under which Powerhouse expects to receive approximately £225,000 as a grant-funded partner, and a five-year framework agreement with National Hydrogen now operated through a new vehicle, National Waste 2 Energy, covering licensing and royalty projects in Australia, Italy, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
Sir Richie Richardson, head of CSE Partnership, framed the ambition in regional terms: "Our vision is for Antigua and Barbuda to become a place where solutions to Caribbean problems are researched, tested and developed, and where the knowledge generated here can ultimately be shared across the region."