Business
AquaBounty Technologies Provides Progress Update on Planned 10,000 Metric Ton Salmon Farm in Pioneer, Ohio
Site Engineering Designs and Permitting Underway, Company to Break Ground by Year-End MAYNARD, Mass., Nov. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AquaBounty
About this update from Aquabounty Technologies, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Site Engineering Designs and Permitting Underway, Company to Break Ground by Year-End\nMAYNARD, Mass., Nov. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AQB) (“AquaBounty” or the “Company”), a land-based aquaculture company utilizing technology to enhance productivity and sustainability, today provided a corporate update on the progress of its planned large-scale salmon farm in Pioneer, Ohio. “We have made solid progress towards finalizing site engineering designs and permitting since our site announcement in July,” said Sylvia Wulf, Chief Executive Officer of AquaBounty. “With hydrology studies complete, confirming that the quantity and quality of water available meets our needs as well as the needs of the local community, key water and environmental permits are currently underway. We remain on track with our preliminary timing estimates to commence construction by year-end, with commercial stocking of salmon estimated to occur in 2023. We are working closely with the Village of Pioneer, Williams County, the State of Ohio, JobsOhio and the Regional Growth Partnership – whose ongoing support has been invaluable in our progress. “As we’ve progressed on the final design for our 10,000 metric ton Ohio farm, we have been able to further refine our expected project cost, which we estimate to be in the range of $290 million to $320 million, including a reserve for potential contingencies of $30 million. The increase from our previous estimates is attributable to several factors, including the cost of building materials and the Recirculating Aquaculture System technology, along with the inclusion of an on-site processing plant and water treatment facility. “As we’ve stated before, our capitalization plan for financing the farm project includes leveraging our equity contribution with debt. To that point, we have begun the process for the placement of a mix of tax-exempt and taxable bonds through the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, whose board has approved the issuance of up to $300 million in bonds to support the financing of the project. We have also engaged Wells Fargo Corporate and Investment Banking to underwrite and market the bond placement, which we expect to complete in Q1 2022. Though there is still work to be done to close this transaction, we believe that this financing will be a major milestone for...