NET Power Inc (NPWR) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the NET Power Inc. first-quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 NET Power Inc. 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Bryce Mendes, Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.

現在我很高興介紹您的主持人、投資者關係總監布萊斯門德斯 (Bryce Mendes)。你可以開始了。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to NET Power's first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. With me on the call today, we have our Chief Executive Officer, Danny Rice; and our Chief Operating Officer, Marc Horstman. Yesterday, we issued our earnings release for the first quarter of 2025, which can be found on our Investor Relations website at ir.netpower.com.

謝謝。早上好，歡迎參加 NET Power 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一起參加電話會議的還有我們的執行長 Danny Rice 和營運長馬克霍斯特曼 (Marc Horstman)。昨天，我們發布了 2025 年第一季的收益報告，可以在我們的投資者關係網站 ir.netpower.com 上找到。

During this call, our remarks may include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied by forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in our SEC filings. Please note that we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

在本次電話會議中，我們的言論可能包含前瞻性陳述。由於與我們的業務相關的風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述所明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。這些風險和不確定性在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中進行了討論。請注意，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

With that, I'll now pass it over to Danny Rice, NET Power's Chief Executive Officer.

現在，我將把發言權交給 NET Power 執行長 Danny Rice。

Thanks, Bryce. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining NET Power's first-quarter earnings call. I am pleased to share an update on our progress to deliver clean, reliable power with our proprietary NET Power cycle.

謝謝，布萊斯。大家早安。感謝您參加 NET Power 第一季財報電話會議。我很高興與大家分享我們利用專有的 NET Power 循環提供清潔、可靠電力的最新進展。

Before diving into our updates, I'd like to welcome Marc Horstman, our new Chief Operating Officer, who recently stepped into this role. Marc brings over 20 years of experience in the power sector, and his expertise in product development and operational execution is already proving invaluable as we sharpen our focus on cost optimization and commercial success.

在深入了解我們的最新消息之前，我想歡迎最近上任的新任營運長馬克‧霍斯特曼 (Marc Horstman)。馬克在電力領域擁有超過 20 年的經驗，隨著我們更加重視成本優化和商業成功，他在產品開發和營運執行方面的專業知識已被證明是無價的。

As we outlined on our last call, we've established a few focus areas for 2025. First, we're working to improve the project economics for our first utility scale plant, mainly by reducing the total installed cost.

正如我們在上次電話會議上所概述的那樣，我們已經確定了 2025 年的一些重點領域。首先，我們正在努力提高我們的第一個公用事業規模工廠的專案經濟性，主要是透過降低總安裝成本。

Second, we're working to determine a viable commercial pathway to a highly competitive levelized cost of energy, or LCOE for short, mainly through a combination of realizing improvements in cycle thermal efficiencies and reduction in per unit capital costs. We expect to realize fairly meaningful cost reductions with multi-unit deployments, particularly in locations with coastal access.

其次，我們正在努力尋找一條可行的商業途徑，以實現極具競爭力的平準化能源成本（簡稱 LCOE），主要透過提高循環熱效率和降低單位資本成本來實現。我們希望透過多單元部署實現相當顯著的成本降低，特別是在沿海地區。

In this year, we're working to quantify the savings with greater accuracy. And our third focus area is moving the ball down the field with our La Porte testing, which will meaningfully improve our performance expectations for our commercial scale clean power plants.

今年，我們正在努力更準確地量化節省的金額。我們的第三個重點領域是透過拉波特測試來推動這項進程，這將顯著提高我們對商業規模清潔發電廠的效能預期。

We're in a unique position where we possess the capital needed to achieve these three goals in a very cost effective manner. We have no debt, and we exited the first quarter with approximately $500 million of cash and cash equivalents earning roughly 5% interest per year.

我們處於一個獨特的地位，我們擁有以非常經濟有效的方式實現這三個目標所需的資本。我們沒有債務，第一季末我們擁有約 5 億美元的現金和現金等價物，年利率約為 5%。

For the full year, we're budgeting to spend approximately $190 million, net of interest income, comprised of $45 million for G&A, $50 million for the La Porte and other R&D activities to further prove out the technology, and $100 million for SN1 development and Baker turbine development for commercial deployment.

就全年而言，我們預算支出約 1.9 億美元（扣除利息收入），其中包括 4500 萬美元用於一般及行政費用，5000 萬美元用於拉波特和其他研發活動以進一步驗證該技術，以及 1 億美元用於 SN1 開發和貝克渦輪機開發以實現商業部署。

Before turning to Marc for operational updates, I wanted to briefly address our share price in capital allocation strategy. NET Power's current trading prices near our cash value, implying the market is assigning little value to our technology.

在向馬克詢問營運更新之前，我想先簡單談談我們的資本配置策略中的股價。NET Power 的當前交易價格接近我們的現金價值，這意味著市場對我們的技術評價不高。

This stands in stark contrast to other clean power technology companies, many of whom have less liquidity, longer commercialization timelines, lower technology readiness levels, and higher LCOEs, yet trading at valuations in the billions. This discrepancy really underscores the significant dislocation in how the market values our clean, firm power solution and gas solutions, more broadly, versus these others.

這與其他清潔能源技術公司形成了鮮明對比，其中許多公司的流動性較差、商業化時間較長、技術就緒水準較低、平準化電力成本較高，但其估值卻高達數十億美元。這種差異實際上凸顯了市場對我們的清潔、穩定的電力解決方案和天然氣解決方案與其他解決方案的評估存在巨大差異。

There is such a large cost gap between most clean, firm power solutions and natural gas. Just last week, Canada announced 1.2 gigawatts of new nukes costing over USD15 billion, which is nearly six times the cost of new gas-based power. And it really begs the question, can NET Power get its cost lower than new nuclear?

大多數清潔、穩定的電力解決方案與天然氣之間存在很大的成本差距。就在上週，加拿大宣布將興建1.2千兆瓦的新核電廠，耗資超過150億美元，幾乎是新建天然氣發電成本的六倍。這確實引出了一個問題：NET Power 的成本能否低於新核電？

Our first plant, Project Permian, which is very likely to be the most expensive and least efficient one we ever deploy, we expect it to be much lower cost than the aforementioned nuclear plants. Data points like this continue to reaffirm our original thesis, which is that in regions with access to low-cost natural gas and places to safely store the CO2, the lowest cost way to deliver clean reliable power can and should come from natural gas-based solutions, and load growth should go to those markets that can generate the lowest cost, most reliable power.

我們的第一個核電廠二疊紀專案很可能是我們部署過的最昂貴、效率最低的核電廠，但我們預計它的成本將比前面提到的核電廠低得多。此類數據點繼續證實了我們最初的論點，即在能夠獲得低成本天然氣和可以安全儲存二氧化碳的地區，提供清潔可靠電力的最低成本方式可以而且應該來自基於天然氣的解決方案，而負載增長應該流向那些能夠產生成本最低、最可靠電力的市場。

So we're constantly assessing ways to best unlock the potential of our unique technology, a commitment we owe to our shareholders, including our major strategic investors, Oxy, Constellation, Baker Hughes, SK Group, and the Rice family, who collectively own approximately 85% of our company's equity. Our investment decisions are made with this focus in mind, and I believe our '25 investments represent the best use of our capital to do just that.

因此，我們一直在評估如何最好地釋放我們獨特技術的潛力，這是我們對股東的承諾，包括我們的主要策略投資者 Oxy、Constellation、貝克休斯、SK 集團和賴斯家族，他們總共擁有我們公司約 85% 的股權。我們的投資決策都是以這個重點為中心做出的，我相信我們的 25 項投資代表了我們資本的最佳利用。

So with that, I'll now turn the call over to Marc to walk through our focus areas for this year.

因此，我現在將電話交給馬克，讓他介紹我們今年的重點領域。

Thank you, Danny, and good morning, everyone. It's an honor to step into this role at such an important time. I'm excited to be a part of this earnings call.

謝謝你，丹尼，大家早安。我很榮幸能夠在如此重要的時刻擔任這一職位。我很高興參加這次收益電話會議。

Having spent over two decades in the power sector, I've seen firsthand the challenges of balancing reliability, affordability, and sustainability. NET Power's technology is a game changer, and I'm energized by the opportunity to help bring it to the market at scale.

在電力產業工作了二十多年，我親眼目睹了平衡可靠性、可負擔性和永續性所面臨的挑戰。NET Power 的技術改變了遊戲規則，我很高興有機會幫助它大規模地推向市場。

My focus as COO is to drive operational excellence and accelerate our path to cost competitive clean energy. As Danny mentioned, we have a few key focus areas for the remainder of the year.

作為首席營運官，我的工作重點是推動卓越營運並加速我們實現具有成本競爭力的清潔能源之路。正如丹尼所提到的，今年剩餘時間我們有幾個重點關注的領域。

First, it's progressing through the turbo expander validation program with Baker Hughes at La Porte. We're currently performing some maintenance work at the site. But once we resume testing, we expect to complete the first two phases this year, as well as beginning preparations for Phase 3 and 4 testing in 2026 and 2027.

首先，它正在與拉波特的貝克休斯合作進行渦輪膨脹機驗證計畫。我們目前正在現場進行一些維護工作。但一旦我們恢復測試，我們預計今年將完成前兩個階段，並開始為 2026 年和 2027 年的第三階段和第四階段測試做準備。

Second, for Project Permian, we're deep into the value engineering process. This involves scrutinizing every aspect of the plant's design, from equipment specifications to construction methods, to identify cost savings without compromising performance or safety. These efforts are critical to making SN1 a success and informing our standardized design for future plants.

其次，對於二疊紀項目，我們深入研究了價值工程流程。這涉及仔細審查工廠設計的各個方面，從設備規格到施工方法，以確定在不影響性能或安全性的情況下節省成本的方法。這些努力對於 SN1 的成功以及為我們未來工廠的標準化設計提供參考至關重要。

We're continuing to wrap up engineering work with Zachry and our key partners to arrive at a more definitive cost estimate at the end of this year. In addition, we're advancing our turbo expander design and development activities with Baker Hughes for SN1.

我們將繼續與 Zachry 和我們的主要合作夥伴完成工程工作，以便在今年年底得出更明確的成本估算。此外，我們正在與貝克休斯合作推進 SN1 的渦輪膨脹機設計和開發活動。

It's worth mentioning that the Baker Hughes turbo expander will be location agnostic and can be utilized in any NET Power plant in the Permian or somewhere else. So while the status of Permian as SN1 is currently contingent upon our value engineering efforts, we're comfortably moving ahead with utility, scale, turbo expander development because of the equipment's flexibility to perform anyway.

值得一提的是，貝克休斯渦輪膨脹機不受地點限制，可用於二疊紀盆地或其他地方的任何 NET 發電廠。因此，儘管二疊紀盆地作為 SN1 的地位目前取決於我們的價值工程努力，但由於該設備具有靈活性，我們可以順利地推進實用性、規模化、渦輪膨脹機的開發。

And third, we're continuing to move forward with our feasibility study for a standardized modular multi-unit plant, working to arrive at a scalable configuration of potentially two to four powertrains on the Gulf Coast or any coastal site for that matter. This is a pivotal cost down exercise to validate the economic viability of future NET Power projects and will ensure that future deployments align with market demands for cost-effective clean energy solutions.

第三，我們將繼續推動標準化模組化多單元工廠的可行性研究，努力實現墨西哥灣沿岸或任何沿海地區可能擁有兩到四個動力系統的可擴展配置。這是一項關鍵的成本降低措施，旨在驗證未來 NET Power 專案的經濟可行性，並確保未來的部署符合市場對具有成本效益的清潔能源解決方案的需求。

Since we're early into the cost down initiative for Project Permian and feasibility study for the multi-unit coastal configuration, there's not much to share today, but hope to have any key learnings we can share our next quarter's call. I'm excited to lead our operations as we move closer to commercializing our transformative technology and look forward to updating you on our continued progress.

由於我們剛開始二疊紀專案的成本降低計劃和多單元沿海配置的可行性研究，今天沒有太多內容可以分享，但希望我們能夠在下個季度的電話會議上分享任何關鍵的經驗。我很高興能夠領導我們的運營，因為我們正朝著將我們的變革性技術商業化的方向邁進，並期待著向您通報我們持續取得的進展。

I'll now turn the call over to Danny for closing remarks.

現在我將把電話交給丹尼來做結束語。

Thanks for the update, Marc. We're energized by the progress we're making and remain committed to executing our strategy with discipline and focus. The next few months will be important as we continue to drive costs out of our first and future projects, thereby improving economics and project fundability in what continues to be a growing market for clean, firm power solutions.

謝謝你的更新，馬克。我們所取得的進展讓我們充滿活力，並將繼續致力於嚴格而專注地執行我們的策略。接下來的幾個月至關重要，因為我們將繼續降低首批和未來專案的成本，從而在持續成長的清潔、穩定電力解決方案市場中提高經濟性和專案融資能力。

We have work to do to unlock this pathway for us, but we have the capital to do it. We're constantly challenging ourselves, but continue to believe the investment in and the development of our clean gas technology creates the best risk adjusted return profile for our shareholders.

我們需要做一些工作來為我們開闢這條道路，但我們有資金來做到這一點。我們不斷挑戰自我，但始終相信對清潔氣體技術的投資和發展將為我們的股東創造最佳的風險調整回報。

We appreciate your continued support and look forward to sharing more updates on our next call. Have a nice day.

我們感謝您一直以來的支持，並期待在下次通話中分享更多更新。祝你今天過得愉快。

Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your line at this time. Thank you for your participation and have a great day.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與並祝您有個愉快的一天。