ACTA.L Regulatory News (ACTA)

Acta S.p.A.

("Acta" or "the Company")

2.7 MW Photovoltaic Project Consents Received

Acta S.p.A. (AIM:ACTA), the clean energy products company, is delighted to announce that it has received project consent for the first three applications in its own developed, Italian photovoltaic project pipeline. These three consents, which cover 2.7 MW, have a market value of approximately €870,000, with 1.7 MW to be sold under the Company's existing arrangements with SPF and 1.0 MW expected to be sold to another third party, subject to contract.

Acta is developing a substantial pipeline of identified projects through to consent which currently totals 24.6 MW, based in the Tuscany and Abruzzo regions of Central Italy. In addition to the 2.7 MW already consented, the Company expects that a further 21.9 MW of authorisations will be achieved over the course of the next three to four months. Each project is expected to be ready for the start of installation work, or for sale, within four to six weeks of receiving consent.

Acta has been investing in the development of its Italian photovoltaic project pipeline during 2010 in order to strengthen its operations within this attractive and profitable business sector. The Company's strategy is then to maximise returns, profitability and cash flow through a combination of the sale of consent only sites and obtaining EPC contracts for site construction.

Based on prevailing market rates, photovoltaic planning consents in Italy are currently valued in the region of €250,000 to €350,000 per MW for the project consent alone; and €3.2 million to €3.5 million per MW for completed turnkey installation (EPC) contracts, excluding project consent.

Based upon the development status of Acta's photovoltaic project pipeline, the Company estimates that applications currently in progress have a potential consent only sales value to Acta of approximately €7.5 million. Consent only sales are high margin revenue streams, with any sales from the current pipeline expected to be realisable within 2010. 

Should all of the current pipeline be developed to turn key sites, rather than a proportion sold at consent only stage, total contractible revenues which could be generated from the Company's immediate pipeline would be expected have a value of approximately €80 million.

Paolo Bert, Chief Executive, commented:

"The approval of our first three project applications, well ahead of our expected schedule, validates our decision to invest in this exciting business opportunity, while our recent contract with Girelli Bruni demonstrates the strong synergy between Acta's photovoltaic and hydrogen activities.

The photovoltaic project pipeline represents a fast growing, profitable and highly liquid asset that will underpin our financial performance over the next stage of our development and we continue to monitor how best to maximise the returns from these activities for the benefit of our shareholders."

- ENDS-

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About Acta S.p.A.

Acta S.p.A. is a developer and manufacturer of a range of clean energy products. Its product line includes market-leading compact hydrogen generators (electrolysers) which produce pure, dry and compressed hydrogen in a way that is easy-to-use and completely safe. The Company is also extensively involved in the Italian solar photovoltaic market through its photovoltaic business, ActaSol, and is committed to integrating its award-winning electrolysers with renewable energy sources. The Company is currently in the process of delivering a €32.2m (10.6MW) installation contract to SPF Energy through its joint venture company, SolGen, and is awaiting authorisation approvals for a further 19MW project pipeline.

Acta's cost-competitive electrolysers are based on its proprietary, inexpensive environmental catalyst and hydrogen conversion technologies. These products help overcome the barriers to the adoption of fuel cells, most notably the lack of a local hydrogen infrastructure.

Acta's low-cost hydrogen generators represent a unique breakthrough in electrolyser technology. They can operate using mains power or intermittent renewable energy, and produce clean, dry hydrogen already at pressure for use in fuel cell and other applications. This unique combination of features avoids the system complexity and energy cost of further cleaning, drying and compression of the hydrogen, resulting in a simple, compact, low-cost and highly efficient system that is ideally suited for energy conversion and storage applications. In such applications, which include battery replacement and renewable energy storage, low cost and high efficiency are critical to commercial viability, while hydrogen compression is essential for the energy density of the system. No other water electrolyser currently on the market offers this combination of benefits.

Acta is focusing on delivering its products to markets with high volume demand for high-value environmental solutions (transport, UPS, energy and leisure). It is accelerating the commercialisation of its products via partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), distributors, and agents in these sectors, and intends to drive down production costs at high volume via contract manufacturing.

Acta is marketing its electrolyser product range to early adopters through its energy products division, Acta Energy. This division's objective is to ensure, through facilitating the widespread adoption of commercial and domestic fuel cell products, that Acta's hydrogen generator becomes a familiar industrial and domestic appliance.

Acta S.p.A. was admitted to trading on AIM in October 2005. It is based near Pisa, Italy, from where it manages a growing overseas distributor network targeting a global fuel cell market estimated to be worth US$26 billion by 2020.

www.actagroup.it

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