ME2C Environmental monetizes patent portfolio by inking agreements with US power producers

Midwest Energy Emissions Corp (OTCQB:MEEC), known by its trade name ME2C Environmental, reported fourth quarter and full year 2020 financial results on Tuesday which showed it is monetizing its strong patent portfolio by inking agreements with major US coal-fired power producers.

ME2C has more than 62 patents in North America, Europe and Asia and has taken legal action against energy companies that have tried to appropriate ME2C’s patented sorbent. The company said it has entered into agreements with “four major power producers and defendants named in initial litigation relating to ME2C patents.”

Four of the utility defendants, which included Vistra Corp and American Electric Power, have entered into license agreements with ME2C and have since been removed from the lawsuit.

READ: ME2C Environmental announces new technologies under development to improve REEs processing in North America

“We concluded the year with significant momentum across our core business which continued into early 2021, having signed agreements between July 2020 and January 2021 with four major US coal-fired power producers with the potential to produce substantial recurring revenue,” ME2C Environmental CEO Richard MacPherson said in a statement.

“These initial successes in our multi-pronged litigation strategy are a testament to the value that our patented technologies for mercury emissions bring to our partners’ operations and place us in a strong position to defend our patents with other utilities that we believe are benefitting from the ongoing use of our proprietary solutions.”

MacPherson noted that the company will “continue to monetize the value” of its patents across the “coal-fired industry, as well as with the remaining defendants in the refined coal sector named in our 2019 lawsuit.”

“Our core mercury emissions capture business will continue to provide a stable and growing foundation for our company going forward,” MacPherson added.

“With over two years of significant development underway, we are ready to bring a suite of new environmental technologies to the pilot testing stage and eventually to market during the early part of 2022.”

The firm said the new technologies which have been developed in collaboration with Dr Scott A. Drummond, will “dramatically improve rare earth element production, wastewater and soil remediation, and methane gas emissions control.”

For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020, the Corsicana, Texas-based company reported revenue of $2.3 million, compared to $2.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Total revenue for the full year 2020 was $8.2 million, compared to $11.4 million in 2019. The company said the decrease was primarily due to decreased generation in the coal-fired power sector principally due to renewables and low natural gas prices.

The company’s net loss in the fourth quarter was $2 million, or $0.03 per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1.5 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The firm has strengthened its balance sheet by eliminating around $1.8 million in convertible debt.

ME2C said it has secured a new supply agreement for its mercury emissions capture business with a “large utility and current customer valued in excess of $2 million annually.”

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive

Story by ProactiveInvestors