Maple Energy plc, an AIM listed integrated energy company with assets in Peru, provides an update on its ethanol project.

Macacara Pump Station and Main Water Reservoir The Company has substantially completed all of the civil construction works related to the Macacara Pump Station which will extract water from the Chira River for delivery to Maple's main water reservoir and ultimately to the Ethanol Project's planned sugar cane estate. In addition, the water pipelines and canal system that will deliver water from the pump station to the main reservoir have been completed. The main water reservoir for the sugar cane estate, with capacity to hold approximately 660,000 cubic metres of water, has also been substantially completed.

Testing of two pumps at the Macacara Pump Station was conducted in November, and the Company expects to begin to fill the main reservoir with water from the Chira River by the end of the month.

Secondary Seed Cane Farm Maple has developed a secondary seed cane farm of approximately 300 hectares by planting seed cane harvested from the Company's primary seed cane farms at Macacara and La Huaca. This secondary seed cane farm will supply the seed cane for the commercial planting of the main estate.

The seed cane farms have been developed with advanced drip irrigation systems designed to minimize the water requirements for the production of sugar cane. Five varieties of sugar cane have been selected for commercial planting, all of which have been successfully grown in Peru for many years. In addition, small quantities of over 30 other varieties of sugar cane have been planted at the primary and secondary seed cane farms for evaluation for potential use in the future.

Major Equipment for the Ethanol Plant As part of the overall Ethanol Project, Maple will build an ethanol plant (the 'Ethanol Plant') with capacity to process up to 5,000 tonnes of sugar cane per day. Construction of the Ethanol Plant has commenced with a number of the material pieces of equipment already complete or substantially complete. The sugar cane reception, handling, and preparation equipment; sugar juice extraction equipment, and sugar juice treatment equipment for the Ethanol Plant are currently being constructed. The boiler and complementary steam generation equipment, which will supply steam to the steam turbine and electric power generation facilities as well as process steam to the Ethanol Plant, is also being constructed.

The major components of the fermentation, distillation, and dehydration equipment for the Ethanol Plant have been completed and have been shipped to Peru or are ready for shipment. The steam turbine generator and related equipment, which is expected to produce up to 37 megawatts of electricity have been built and are ready for shipment to Peru.

Most of the major equipment is expected to be delivered to the planned site of the Ethanol Plant by the middle of 2010.

Ethanol Project Working Capital Facility Maple has executed two short-term loan facilities with a Peruvian bank (the 'Facilities') for an aggregate amount of US$4.5 million to provide additional working capital for the Ethanol Project. The loans of US$2 million and US$2.5 million will be due and payable on 6 April 2010 and 16 April 2010, respectively, and will be secured by certain equipment that has been delivered to Peru as well as 7,261 hectares of improved and unimproved land. The Facilities are expected to be repaid with proceeds from senior project debt financing currently under negotiation for the Ethanol Project.

Rex Canon, CEO of Maple Energy, commented: "I am very pleased by the significant progress that we have made with our Ethanol Project, and we anticipate that the construction of the main water conveyance system will be substantially complete and that the commercial planting of sugar cane on the main estate will commence in the first half of 2010. We also expect the remaining major pieces of equipment for our Ethanol Plant to be shipped to Peru by the second quarter of 2010.'

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