A major customer is on board. Now the work begins to raise the roughly DKK 15 billion needed to turn Arcadia eFuels’ planned fuel plant in Vordingborg into reality.
Almost the entire construction investment still needs to be financed, says Martin Nielsen, who is responsible for Arcadia’s project in Vordingborg.
- We are more or less missing the whole amount. We do have an investor, but that money has been spent on things such as permits and technical engineering. So essentially, we still need all DKK 15 billion, he says.
So far, Arcadia has used the investment from German investor KGAL to bring the project to a more advanced stage. The company has, among other things, completed the technical engineering, obtained environmental approval and secured agreements for electricity and CO₂.
But major investors also required certainty that someone would buy the fuel. That came this week when German energy group Uniper signed a binding agreement to purchase up to 40,000 tonnes of aviation fuel annually for more than ten years.
That leaves Arcadia confident, even though the process of assembling the financing package has only just begun.
- We are not really concerned about being able to raise the money now that we have a customer agreement like this and the other agreements are in place. But it simply takes time, says Martin Nielsen.
The overall financing package is expected to involve around four banks, four major investors and several export credit agencies. BNP Paribas is assisting Arcadia in raising both equity and debt financing for the project.
- Getting all the parties to sign a single financing package can easily take nine months. That is why we expect to be ready next summer, says Martin Nielsen.
Arcadia also needs to find buyers for another 20-30 per cent of the planned aviation fuel production. According to Martin Nielsen, the Uniper agreement has already prompted several interested customers to get in touch.
