October 21 (SeeNews) - Australian clean energy investor Wasabi Energy said it has completed a pre-feasibility study (PFS) for a 30 megawatt expansion of the Tuzla Geothermal Power Project (TGPP) in the western Turkish province of Canakkale.
Wasabi Enerji's wholly-owned Turkish unit Imparator Enerji holds an option to acquire 50% of the project's owner Egenda Enerji expiring in December. The project includes an existing 7.5 megawatt geothermal power plant (TGPP-1) with options for expansion to more than 80 megawatts.
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The pre-feasibility study on the project expansion (TGPP-2), finalised by Imparator Enerji, showed an indicative net present value (NPV) of 142 million Australian dollars ($137 million/100 million euro), internal rate of return (IRR) of 57% and 19.6 million dollars of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) as of the frst full year of commercial operation, Wasabi Energy said in a statement on Friday.
The PFS also concluded that, provided that it can be advanced to a bankable feasibility study by the end of 2014, first power from the TGPP-2 could be produced in the second half of 2016.
Wasabi said it had so far invested 10 million dollars on the acquisition and development of the project and intends to provide the outstanding acquisition related consideration of some 3.7 million dollars before the end of the year.
"The results of the pre-feasibility indicate that 15 MW share of TGPP as envisaged by Wasabi can deliver in excess of $70 million of net present value", said Wasabi Energy's chairman John Byrne.
(1 euro = 1.4133 Australian dollars)