Quadrise Plc has announced an amendment to its Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Australian technology company Licella Holdings Ltd, outlining a more defined development and testing schedule for the use of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL)-derived bio-oils as a feedstock for Quadrise's marine biofuel products.

The amended JDA, announced on 30 July, builds on the original agreement signed on 26 March 2025, under which the two companies have been collaborating to explore Licella's bio-oil as a feedstock for Quadrise's bioMSAR and bioMSAR Zero fuel products. Lab testing has been conducted in both Australia and the UK under the terms of the original agreement.

Licella's proprietary Cat-HTR hydrothermal liquefaction technology converts biomass residues and biowastes — including wood and agricultural waste — into bio-oil that the company says can be blended or refined into low-carbon liquid fuels. Quadrise, which trades on AIM, manufactures what it describes as lower-cost, lower-emission replacement fuels and biofuels for shipping and heavy industry.

Under the amended agreement, said to be non-binding, the parties have set an updated timeline that envisages the completion of final lab tests on refined Licella HTL bio-oils in H2 2026. Subject to those tests, initial marine diesel-engine pilot tests are then planned, to be followed by larger-scale, third-party engine testing ahead of any commercial vessel trials.

The two companies' respective roles are outlined in the amended JDA: Licella is to provide HTL bio-oil production expertise, while Quadrise contributes maritime market access and fuel formulation experience.

Quadrise noted that hydrothermal liquefaction has been identified by organisations including the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping as a potential pathway for producing sustainable fuels for hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping.

Peter Borup, CEO of Quadrise, stated: "The combination of Quadrise emulsion technology and the abundant feedstocks offered by Licella's HTL technology offers an increasingly promising pathway to scalability of bioMSAR for the maritime industry, and a potential way of mitigating the price pressures from other bio-feedstocks."

Dr Len Humphreys, CEO of Licella, remarked: "The shipping industry needs sustainable fuel solutions that can truly scale, and that is exactly what Licella's Cat-HTR™ technology delivers: abundant, low-cost feedstocks to meet the scale of the challenge. Our partnership with Quadrise brings together two highly complementary technologies, and with Quadrise's maritime market expertise and fuel experience we see a compelling opportunity to accelerate the delivery of scalable, cost-competitive low-carbon marine fuels."

Quadrise's commercial products include MSAR, an emulsion fuel available today as an alternative to conventional fuel oil, and bioMSAR, a biofuel variant that has been tested on diesel engines.