Designer of ‘world’s largest’ downdraft gasification plant issues $21.4 million of new equity

The designer of ‘the world’s largest’ downdraft gasification plant has announced the issuing of approximately $21.4 million (€17.9 million) of new equity.

In addition, Nashville, Tennessee based Aries Clean Energy has received additional commitments from Boston based private equity firm Spring Lane Capital of $25 million for equity in future gasification projects.

According to a statement, proceeds from the offering will be used to fund project development, retire debt and other general corporate purposes. Specifically, Aries plans to deploy an immediate pipeline of customer-ready projects using their proprietary waste-gasification technology, as well as accelerate business development in new markets within the US, increase efficiencies in current products, and advance growth outside US borders.

“I am pleased that Spring Lane Capital has recognised our award-winning, patented clean energy technology and wants to help share these solutions with more cities and industries,” Aries CEO Gregory L Bafalis said.

“Their model of financing distributed scale solutions is ideal for our business as we look to develop and operate a series of small-to-mid scale plants.”

Aries is currently developing the Lebanon Gasification Initiative in Tennessee. When at full capacity, the plant will keep 8,000 tons of waste from landfill and eliminate 2,500 tons of carbon emissions from the air. The syngas converted from waste can generate 1.8 million kilo-watt hours of electricity in a year.

“Aries Clean Energy is poised for growth, with a leading and proven technology, a wide-open market opportunity, and an experienced high-execution management team,” said Nikhil Garg, general partner at Spring Lane Capital.

“This refinancing gives Aries the runway to accelerate the business and deploy their solution at scale while providing strong economic benefits to their municipal and industrial customers.”