Olivier Mussat has joined President Energy subsidiary Atome Energy from the International Finance Corp. (IFC) in preparation for an IPO later this year.
Mussat had acted as chief investment officer for global energy at the World Bank unit. He will now act as CEO for Atome.
He had worked there for nine years. Before the IFC, Mussat had worked as the head of oil and gas project finance at Standard Chartered Bank. This followed roles with Schlumberger and General Electric.
President Energy is focused on oil and gas opportunities in Latin America. Atome will work in the green hydrogen and ammonia area.
“The exciting potential of Atome in green hydrogen and ammonia production together with its projects gave me no hesitation when I was invited by Peter [Levine] to become CEO of Atome,” said Mussat.
He has experience of “both electrons and hydrocarbon molecules as energy carriers”, he said. “I believe that green hydrogen and ammonia is the best chance to deliver the energy transition.”
Levine, who is chairman and CEO of President, said Mussat brought “just the right skillset for this important role, namely a wealth of experience in the key areas of management, structuring, finance and development of international energy projects”.
He noted other appointments to Atome’s board, including Mary-Rose de Valladares, the former general manager of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Hydrogen Technology Collaboration, and James Spalding, the former general director of Itaipu. Levine will also sit on the Atome board.
Projects on tap
Levine said Atome had “the right expertise and the right strategy to deliver realistic projects, located in the right areas, near readily available baseload green power on tap 24/7 with access to land, water, transport links and end markets with the right partners to fulfil these business objectives”.
President plans to spin out Atome through a dividend distribution to shareholders and to list the company on London’s AIM.
Atome would be “able to command a different investor audience and have the potential to attract a higher valuation as an independent green power company, rather than as a subsidiary of President Energy”, it said. Following the distribution, President expects to hold 25% in Atome.
The company will hold a shareholder vote on the plan on November 18.
Atome is working on two projects, in Iceland and Paraguay. It aims to produce 40,000 tonnes per year of hydrogen by the mid 2020s. This could generate 260,000 tonnes per year of ammonia, it said.
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