2OC announces joint feasibility study with National Grid
10 April 2006

Media Release
Contact:
Andrew Mercer, CEO
2OC Ltd
Phone: 01225 851115
Email: newenergy@2oc.co.uk
Web: www.2oc.co.uk

10 April 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New clean energy solution to help meet demand for renewable energy

Responding to the UK’s growing demand for renewable energy, clean start-up 20C have announced a joint feasibility study with National Grid to evaluate if a new clean energy source could add up to 2GW of carbon free electricity in the UK by the middle of the next decade. In making this announcement, 2OC are challenging the historic assumption that the electricity supply industry can only meet the forecast shortages through investing in a combination of the current high carbon solutions and existing renewable sources.

2OC is the brainchild of Bath based entrepreneur and environmentalist, Michael Edge, who said today: “As a passionate environmentalist, and a supporter of many environmental projects, I am delighted that the National Grid has agreed to a feasibility study into the potential of geo-pressure energy to generate large amounts of carbon free electricity for the UK.” Edge’s co-founder, and the new start-up’s CEO, is fellow Bath based entrepreneur, Andrew Mercer.
Continued:

2OC’s solution uses well established technology - already in use in Europe and North America - to exploit a clean energy source, known as geo-pressure energy. Geo-pressure energy is a by-product of the natural pressure found in the national gas grid and is currently unused. 2OC’s approach also fits well with major energy savings initiatives, such as the decentralised energy strategy promoted by Greenpeace and others, as the technology is easy to implement on a distributed basis. Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace, confirmed this today when he said: “Greenpeace welcomes this move towards a decentralised energy system - energy that is generated at or close to the point at which it is needed. Geo-pressure technology does just this – generating electricity at the points where energy (both gas and electricity) is demanded. In doing so it prevents the natural geo-pressure energy from being wasted. The same approach on our electricity network could prevent us throwing away two-thirds of the primary energy we currently put into our large centralised power plants. Such straightforward decentralised approaches could revolutionise our energy future and usher in a new and more renewable AND ENERGY EFFICIENT era”.

The 2GW of electricity, that 2OC could generate, will go a long way towards meeting the UK’s forecast shortfall in the next decade. (1GW represents the generating capacity of an average, large sized fossil fuel or nuclear power station servicing on average 2,500,000 UK households.) The application of this new generating technology in the UK will enhance security of supply; a vital consideration for the electricity supply industry. In addition, being a clean energy source means that for every 1GW of electricity generated using geo-pressure energy, there will be a potential annual saving for the UK of one million tonnes of carbon (1MtC). 1MtC is equivalent to the total carbon emitted annually by the NHS, or the equivalent of taking nearly one million cars off the road for a year.

Based on current plans, 2OC expects the first 100 MW of electricity to be available by 2009, with 1GW being potentially on stream as soon as 2013. The second GW will come from applying the same technology to harnessing the energy in the waste heat produced by large manufacturing plants.

The first UK installation of the technology to convert geo-pressure energy into
electricity will be installed at England's biggest hydrogen plant - BOC's site in North
Tees. 20C will install two geo-pressure units into the pipeline which supplies the
natural gas feedstock for the production of hydrogen. The geo-pressure units will be
capable of generating around 500-700 kilowatts of power, sufficient to satisfy all of
BOC's requirements on site. The project is currently at design stage and is expected
on stream by April 2007. The project has also received a £60K grant from
The BOC Foundation to demonstrate zero-emission power generation.
Subsequent installations will be at various National Grid sites and large
manufacturing plants around the UK. 2OC’s plans are currently UK based but the
geo-pressure and waste heat energy sources, and the technology for turning them into
electricity, can be exploited worldwide.

Contact:
Andrew Mercer, CEO
2OC Ltd
Phone: 01225 851115
Email: newenergy@2oc.co.uk
Web: www.2oc.co.uk

END