greentech


The Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona is one of the leading networking platforms for businesses and politics linking Europe and Eurasia. On October 24-25, the event was held by the Italian “Cognoscere Eurasia” initiative for the 12th time, as usual gathering more than 400 leaders from all over Eurasia in the city’s beautiful old town. Creon Capital chairman Dr. Fares Kilzie attended a panel discussion on the role of natural gas in helping Europe’s energy security and climate change goals, alongside with Gazprom Deputy Chairman Elena Burmistrova and Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of the Management Board of Novatek.

Prior to the debate, Igor Sechin, President and CEO of Russia’s leading oil producer Rosneft, had set the tonality for the day. He turned out to be very confident that oil and gas will remain key sources for energy production throughout the upcoming decades, hydrocarbons will still account for more than 50 percent of the energy mix in 2030 despite the growth of renewables. For this time period, he forecasts a 20 percent growth of oil demand due to the increasing consumption in Asia, first and foremost in India. But Sechin underlined: “We at Rosneft show that oil production is possible in a socially and environmentally responsible way.”

The Creon Energy Fund is committed to gas-related projects, which are a cleaner alternative to Diesel and gasoline. However, improving the entire energy sector’s ecological responsibility maintains an objective for the fund managers of Creon Capital, as chairman Dr. Fares Kilzie stated. “We consider investments in green technologies as being commercially viable and reasonable. Therefore, we aim at co-investing with companies of the energy-sector in projects to slow down climate change.” As one example he named the Fund’s attempts to develop a market for small-scale LNG and CNG, which ensures that vessels and trucks can be fueled with cleaner gas instead of Diesel and heavy oil.

This seems to be in line with the “bullish” expectations of Novatek’s Leonid Mikhelson. Russia’s leading exporter of liquefied natural gas recently corrected its capacity plans for 2030 upwards: Instead of 57 million tons, the company now plans to produce and export 70 million tons annually, up from 19 million tons this year. Similarly, also Gazprom’s leader Elena Burmistrova presented the audience ambitious plans to improve the gas giant’s position on the LNG market, including small-scale infrastructure projects on the domestic hydrogen market.

Both Mikhelson and Burmistrova made clear that natural gas will play inevitably a major role in reducing the climate impact of the energy sector. Creon chairman Fares Kilzie, however, put more emphasis on renewable energy, which is deployed increasingly even in hydrocarbon-based countries such as Kazakhstan and Russia. The Fund joint-venture ISS Global Solutions these days completes one of the largest transportation projects for windmills going from China and Germany to Kazakhstan.

Kilzie finally pointed out that even hydrocarbon producers have to think day-by-day how to become “greener”: “As we are running a private equity fund in Luxembourg, we know perfectly how banks and regulators increasingly pay attention to environmental and social responsibility of companies and their projects. We recognize rapidly growing demand for ‘green bonds’, but emitters have to fulfill strict preconditions in terms of environmental responsibility”. For the Eurasian energy companies this would means, that they must become “best-in-class” in terms of environmental protection.

Pictures:

Fund chairman Dr. Fares Kilzie (center) with Gazprom 1st Deputy Chairman Elena Burmistrova (right) and Novatek chairman Leonid Mikhelson on a panel discussion about energy security and climate change.
Fares Kilzie concentrated his speech on the need to invest more in green technologies as even gas suppliers are forced by banks and customers to meet ambitious ESG objectives.

 

Novatek Leonid Mikhelson explained his plans to quadruple his LNG production volume to 70 million tons p/a until 2030.

 



Like it or not, coal will remain an important resource for generating energy and heat over the coming decades. Countries such as China, Russia, Kazakhstan and even the EU member state Poland are increasing their coal production. It is therefore even more important to minimize environmental and health risks associated with coal. This is the mission of CoalTech Limited.

Clean Invest Africa Plc (NEX:CIA) and fund management company Creon Capital are pleased to announce the launch of CoalTech S.a.r.l. The joint company aims to expand towards Russia and CIS markets with innovation by CoalTech Limited. Recently acquired by the clean technology and renewable energy investment company CIA, CoalTech has developed an innovative agglomeration solution that converts coal fines waste deposits into combustible coal pellets via a proprietary technology.

CoalTech innovative solutions are required in Russia and CIS countries, which account for roughly two thirds of the coal production in Eurasia, excluding China. Creon Capital invests in the joint project with its clean-tech focused Creon Energy Fund (Sicav-SIF), aiming to develop multiple projects and scale up production in these markets. The Fund’s initiator Creon Energy (Moscow) will be responsible for the project implementation regionally, while adding value through its vast network in the region’s energy sector.

The technology used for upcoming projects is unique: With the help of patented binders, coal fine waste is being dried and processed into pellets, which show the same calorific values, composition and other characteristics as the coal of the respective mine itself.

CoalTech CEO Filippo Fantechi explains: “Our technology produces a valuable product made out of polluting and toxic waste. Tested successfully initially in South Africa, we are now ready to upscale globally. Russia and the CIS countries are attractive markets from an environmental and health perspective, as well as having an enormous industrial legacy. People in the region suffer from poor water and air quality, as residues of coal production and processing are often released into the environment. Drinking water is often contaminated by coal fine leaching. In winter times, carbon particles from coal fines in the air sometimes create what is known as ‘black snow’. These coal fines could relatively easily be cleaned-up and processed into combustible pellets with CoalTech’s green technology. We look forward to working with Creon to maximize this commercial clean–up opportunity”.

Dr. Fares Kilzie, Chairman and CEO of the Fund managing company Creon Capital, is confident that the new technology will be demanded in the region: “People in Russia and other former soviet countries care increasingly about how companies treat the environment, especially when phenomena such as ‘black snow’ highlight the problem of pollution. Companies have to take this into account, the industry and government authorities are seeking solutions, and the CoalTech green technology provides a commercially attractive solution whilst enabling the industry to effectively improve its environmental and social impacts.”

Creon Capital chairman Dr. Fares Kilzie and Shaikh Mohamed Abdulla Al Khalifa, main shareholder of Clean Invest Africa, signed the shareholder agreement in Forte dei Marmi (Italy). CoalTech S.a.r.l. has been established in Luxembourg, further updates shall be provided as the Russia and CIS opportunities develop.

UPDATE: CoalTech S.à.r.l. has been incorporated on October 4th, 2019.

 

You can DOWNLOAD the press-release here (EN/RU).

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ABOUT US

Creon Capital S.a.r.l. manages the Luxembourg-based Creon Energy Fund (S.C.A. Sicav-SIF). The regulated Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) concentrates investments up to 100 Mio. Euro (targeted) on green technologies, logistics projects, value-adding midstream and downstream energy projects. The unlimited opportunity fund cooperates with partners such as the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) and is focused on emerging markets and uprising new business segments in Eurasia and the Middle East. The Fund’s initiator and general partner is the Moscow-based independent consulting and management company Creon Energy, which brings add value on projects in Russia and CIS countries by using its vast network and market expertise in the region.

CoalTech Limited is registered in the UK and its parent company, Clean Invest Africa Plc is listed in London NEX Exchange (NEX:CIA). CoalTech has developed a revolutionary and innovative agglomeration solution that converts coal waste into combustible coal pellets via a proprietary technology using a specially formulated organic binder and a customized production process. CoalTech has developed its proprietary technology over almost a decade, has an operational producing and testing plant in Witbank, Province of Mpumalanga, South Africa. This plant started commercial operations in November 2018. The plant is expected to operate at full capacity soon, generating revenues on target margins based on a net monthly volume of 5,000 tons.

Creon Capital chairman Dr. Fares Kilzie (on the left) and Shaikh Mohamed Abdulla Al Khalifa, main shareholder of Clean Invest Afrika Plc. signed the shareholder agreement, based on which the Luxembourg-based Joint Venture CoalTech S.a.r.l. will be established.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The team of CoalTech Ltd, Creon Capital and Creon Energy after the signing ceremony (from the left): Yuri Ratnikov and Vladimir Voloshin (Creon Energy), Abdulla M. A. Al Khalifa (CoalTech Ltd.), Dr. Fares Kilzie (Creon Capital), Shaikh Mohamed Abdulla Al Khalifa (Clean Invest Africa), Sandjar Turgunov (Creon Group), Florian Willershausen (Creon Capital).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Contact:

Maria Dymenko,
Creon Group
Head of Corporate Communications
E-Mail: md@creon-group.com
Phone: +7-985-1351009