Monolith Materials Breaks Ground at its Nebraska Manufacturing Headquarters

HALLAM, Neb., Oct. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Monolith Materials, a next-generation manufacturer of natural gas-based carbon black, will officially break ground on its U.S. manufacturing headquarters on Thursday, October 20, 2016, in Hallam, Nebraska. The facility will bring 600 jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars in new capital investment in the state of Nebraska, and a clean energy source to the area.

Monolith founders, Bill Brady, Rob Hanson, and Pete Johnson, will be joined by Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and Pat Pope, CEO of the Nebraska Public Power District, to give remarks before a ceremonial groundbreaking event. Local dignitaries, additional representatives from both Monolith and NPPD, and other partners in the project will also be present.

"Monolith is thrilled to support the growth and strength of American manufacturing, clean technology and job growth right here in America's heartland," said Brady. "We chose this location because of Nebraska's exceptional infrastructure and highly skilled workforce, and look forward to building a great company here."

Headquartered with their R&D facility in the San Francisco Bay Area, Monolith is bringing manufacturing back to America with innovative carbon black technology that uses natural gas as feedstock instead of oil, as does the conventional process, reducing emissions significantly. Carbon black is a safe, common material found in thousands of products Americans use every day - including tires, rubber and plastics, printing inks, and batteries. A co-product of its innovative manufacturing technology is hydrogen, a fuel that produces zero greenhouse gas emissions when burned.

Monolith has partnered with Nebraska's largest electric utility, NPPD, whereby they will replace an existing coal-fired boiler with a hydrogen-fired boiler at their Sheldon Station plant in Hallam, Neb. The new boiler will generate 125 mw of electricity – enough to supply power to 150,000 homes. The boiler conversion is also expected to result in a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gasses and other types of emissions.

"Our partnership with Monolith Materials is a unique combination of innovation, environmental sustainability, and economic development for the area and the state," said NPPD CEO Pat Pope. "The ability of public power to respond in making this opportunity happen, utilizing our competitive low rates and our economic development rate, is important for Nebraska. At the same time, NPPD has the opportunity to have 50 percent of our energy resources to be carbon-free in the future. We look forward to our continued working relationship with Monolith Materials."

The groundbreaking event is open to the public and will begin with a hosted breakfast starting at 8:30 a.m. before the announcements and ceremony begin.

ABOUT MONOLITH MATERIALS

Monolith Materials is a next-generation, carbon black manufacturing company which uses a proprietary process to convert natural gas to carbon black in a cost competitive and environmentally advantaged manner. Monolith's process also produces hydrogen tail-gas, a valuable co-product that can be sold into the power generation or industrial gas markets. Monolith is backed by Azimuth Capital Management and Warburg Pincus, two of the most widely respected private equity firms in North America. For more information on Monolith Materials, visit www.monolithmaterials.com.

ABOUT NPPD

Always there when you need us, NPPD's mission is to safely generate and deliver reliable, low-cost sustainable energy and provide outstanding customer service. Working in partnership with the state's rural public power districts, cooperatives and municipalities, NPPD helps serve an estimated 600,000 Nebraskans in 86 of the state's 93 counties with retail or wholesale electric power and energy-related products and services. For more information, go to www.nppd.com.

Local Media:Rena ValentinoEMBRACE StrategyTel: 402.880.6313RE: Monolith Materials[email protected]

Mark BeckerNPPD CommunicationsTel: 402-563-5667RE: NPPD[email protected]

National Press:Brittney GarneauPierpont CommunicationsTel: 713-627-2223RE: Monolith Materials[email protected]

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SOURCE Monolith Materials