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10 August 2009

Helius Energy plc

Helius Energy Appoints Chairman

The Board of Helius Energy plc ('Helius' or 'the Group'), which was established to install and operate biomass fired renewable electricity generation plants, is delighted to announce the appointment of Keith Henry as Non-Executive Chairman with immediate effect.

Keith brings over 30 years international business experience in the development, financing, ownership, design and construction of electricity, oil and gas, civil and process related organisations.

From 2000 to 2003 Keith was Chief Executive of Kvaerner E&C plc responsible for the company's global engineering and construction activities associated with the development, design and building of major projects for the offshore and onshore oil and gas, pipelines, process, pharmaceutical, metals and power industries.

During a very active period for the UK electricity industry between 1995 and 1999, as Chief Executive of National Power plc Keith continued to restructure the FTSE100 listed company, driving the strategy of international expansion ultimately leading to the creation of a wholly owned new company, International Power, to take advantage of the liberalisation of the international electricity markets as a world leader in independent power generation.

Keith started his career at Brown & Root in 1971, rising to Chief Executive of Brown & Root Limited in 1990 and a member of the main Brown & Root and Halliburton Inc Executive Management teams, responsible for the company's activities within Europe, Africa and the CIS.

Keith was a non executive director at Enterprise Oil plc for five years until the company was sold to Shell in 2002. In 2003, Keith joined Petroleum Geo-Services ASA as Deputy Chairman to help the new Board lead and support the organisation's recovery from Chapter 11. The company was re-listed on the Oslo and New York Stock exchanges and, by 2006, had grown to achieve a market capitalisation of $3.5bn. In 2006, Keith then led the demerger of Petrojarl ASA from PGS and was Chairman during its IPO on the Oslo Stock Exchange at $500m, subsequently selling the Company for $850m, five months later.

In 2005, Keith joined the Board of LSE listed oil and gas exploration and production company Burren Energy plc, and was appointed Chairman in 2006. The Company was successfully sold to Eni SpA for c£1.8bn in early 2008. Keith has been Senior Director of LSE listed Emerald Energy plc since 2004. In April 2008 he became Chairman of AIM listed oil and gas company Regal Petroleum plc.

Trained as a civil engineer, Keith holds a BSc from the University of London and a MSc from Birmingham University. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

J Barclay Forrest, currently acting Chairman of Helius Energy, said: 'Keith brings a wealth of experience gained at the highest levels, both as a contractor and as an operator in the power and energy sectors and, more recently, as a non-executive Chairman and director on a number of diverse boards. He has considerable and proven experience in the development and management of major projects, with an in-depth understanding of the risks associated with different contract strategies. This experience will be highly relevant to Helius.'

Keith Henry commented: 'I am looking forward to my new role. Helius is a terrific company and the team has achieved a great deal since the IPO in 2007. With the opportunities currently in the market for developing clean generation projects, Helius is well placed to take advantage of this growth.'

Following Keith Henry's appointment J Barclay Forrest will revert to his previous position as a non executive director.

John Seed, Managing Director, said: 'I welcome Keith to the Company and look forward to working with him. My sincere thanks to Barclay for his work and advice over the last few months which has been invaluable.'

For more information please contact:

Helius Energy plc                          Tel: 020 7554 1400

John Seed, Managing Director

Alan Lyons, Finance Director

Matrix Corporate Capital LLP          Tel: 020 3206 7000

Louis Castro

Anu Tayal

Kreab Gavin Anderson                    Tel: 020 7074 1800

Ken Cronin

Kate Hill

Alex Gowlland

Notes to Editors:

About Helius Energy

Helius Energy plc was established to install and operate Biomass fired renewable electricity plants and to take advantage of associated business opportunities in accordance with its Earth to Energy strategy. This delivers a sustainable business and includes integrated biomass feedstock supply chains and co-product utilisation. Such developments will help to meet the Government's targets for renewable energy and climate change mitigation. To achieve its strategy, Helius has assembled a skilled management team with significant knowledge and expertise in the energy, manufacturing, biomass, engineering and agribusiness sectors.

Helius is targeting sites where the availability of the feedstock is optimised. For its larger projects this means access to appropriate transport links while its GreenSwitch plants are designed to make use of readily available feedstock to generate electricity and heat for both onsite use and export to local markets and the electricity grid. Its award winning GreenFields technology also integrates with processes such as brewing, distilling and food processing to maximise the potential of valuable process co-products for energy and other uses.

Further Information on Keith Henry

Current Non-Executive Role - quoted companies

2008 - to date     Regal Petroleum plc, Chairman

2004 - to date     Emerald Energy Plc, Senior Director

 

Current Non-Executive Role - private companies

2006 - date         High-Point Rendel Limited, Director

2007 - date         Aegis Defence Services Limited, Director

2007 - date         Reynolds Partners Limited, Vice Chairman

Previous Non-Executive Roles

2006 - 2009         Simon Carves Limited, Director

2005 - 2008         Burren Energy plc, Chairman.

2007 - 2008         First Calgary Petroleums Limited, Director

2005 - 2007         South East Water Limited, Director

2006                   Petrojarl ASA, Chairman

2003 - 2006         Petroleum Geo-Services ASA, Deputy Chairman

2003 - 2006         Punj Lloyd Limited, Director

1997 - 2002         Enterprise Oil plc, Director

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