Shares in Active Energy Group PLC more than halved on Friday, as the company said it was struggling to resolve delays to construction of a US-located reference plant.

Shares in Active were down 69% at 0.53 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.

Active Energy is a London-headquartered biomass-focused renewable energy company.

This was prompted by Active’s announcement of further delays to production at its CoalSwitch fuel reference plant in Ashland, Maine. The plant is a joint venture alongside Player Design Inc, a US-based sustainable engineering consultant, which was awarded a permit to construct and operate Coalswitch in May 2023.

Active is attempting to secure fuel delivery dates from Player Design, and said it is in discussions with the company and partners to resolve the ongoing construction efforts.

This marks the seventh delay to the Ashland facility, originally meant to achieve production during the first quarter of 2023. In November, Player Design’s Chief Executive Officer Tyler Player informed Active that operations would commence by the end of the year, with production of fuel volumes in the first quarter of 2024. Following this and further construction delays, Active said that it no longer had confidence in the time estimates provided to it by its joint venture partner for the delivery of fuel from CoalSwitch.

Commenting on the delays, Active Energy Chief Executive Officer Michael Rowan said: ‘The actions of Player Design are as surprising as they are disappointing after a long journey toward the production of CoalSwitch fuel... The board is taking swift and decisive action in the interests of our shareholders to minimize the impact, and to actively investigate and pursue all available claims arising from Active Energy’s dealings with Player Design over the last three years.’

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