Further Operational Update
Summary by AI BETAClose X
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS DEFINED IN ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION EU NO. 596/2014, AS RETAINED AND APPLICABLE IN THE UK PURSUANT TO SECTION 3 OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("MAR"). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
22 June 2026
Clean Power Hydrogen plc
("CPH2", the "Company" or the "Group")
Further Operational Update
Clean Power Hydrogen plc (AIM: CPH2), the UK-based green hydrogen technology company provides a further announcement following the incident at the Company's test site during the third and final stage of the factory acceptance testing ("FAT3") of its MFE220 1MW unit.
As previously announced, structural damage was sustained by the MFE220 electrolyser as it was completing its final testing. The Group's initial, internal assessment is that a hydrogen-oxygen mixture ignited during an automated depressurisation of the system, causing a loss of containment. The Company confirms that no personnel were injured and, further, that it has been subsequently established that the Group's proprietary membrane-free stack and associated separators were not the cause of the incident. The detailed cause of the failure remains under investigation, and the unit remains non-operational until a formal root cause analysis is conducted and a full technical report is prepared and approved by the Board. The Company estimates that this process will be completed by 31 August 2026 and that this will then provide a basis upon which remedial design changes can be effected, after re-testing all proposed solutions at a component level to ensure they meet the required operational and safety standards.
Based on the work undertaken to date and the Company's accumulated testing data, including the successful factory acceptance test and site acceptance test of the MFE110 unit, the Board believes that the Company's membrane-free technology has demonstrated significant technical merit and that its existing intellectual property holds significant commercial value; however, it has concluded that the Company does not currently have the financial and scaled-up engineering resources required to complete a full manufacturing and re-testing process to demonstrate commerciality for eventual MFE220 production.
Following the decision not to continue manufacturing activities, the Company will adopt a more capital-light business model, focused on its proven research and development capability and ability to successfully licence fully-secured intellectual property.
The Company has now been granted 16 patents across 12 jurisdictions, including USA, Japan, India and across the Middle East, with a further 17 patents pending.
The Company also has contractual licencing arrangements for its technology with three companies covering twelves countries and further copyrights, designs, schematics and other commercial and technology partnerships, along with a decade of accumulated technical know-how. The Company expects to progress a strategy centred on the efficient commercialisation and further global licensing of its intellectual property, with additional strategic and manufacturing partnerships being actively evaluated. Discussions have been held with a number of interested manufacturing parties and remain non-binding at this time.
The Company is continuing to work with its insurance providers to fully assess the insurance claim and potential interim payment relating to the MFE220 testing incident. In parallel, discussions are ongoing with a commercial partner, Lagan MEICA Ltd, who were to take receipt of the MFE220 on successful completion of the FAT3, to establish the position of the sales agreement between the parties.
To lead this new strategy, the Board has resolved that Richard Scott, who was appointed to the role of Chief Commercial Officer in June 2025, is to assume the role of Chief Executive Officer (subject to standard regulatory due diligence checks), alongside James Hobson, who will remain as Chief Financial Officer. Natalie Fortescue will become Non-Executive Chair, while Rick Smith will remain an Independent Non-Executive Director. This core group is already focused on managing the Company through a brief transition into a technology development and licensing business.
Jonathan Duffy, Chief Executive Offer, and Christopher Train, Non-Executive Chair, have both offered their resignations to the Board and will step down from their roles. The Board changes will take effect following the completion of the next fundraise.
Proposed Fundraise
The Company's working capital position remains constrained, and it is undertaking a significant cost reduction programme. The Company is currently in discussions with its capital providers and brokers regarding a potential equity raise to secure the required working capital (the "Fundraising") to transition the Company's business model, as outlined above. It is expected that this Fundraising would also enable the suspension of the Company's shares from trading on AIM to be lifted. The Fundraising is expected to be carried out by way of a subscription, a placing and a retail offer via the Bookbuild platform to enable the Company's retail shareholder base to participate and to continue to support the Company's revised strategy. Further details of the Fundraising will be announced in due course.
Should the Fundraising be successful, the equity injection will support the re-alignment of corporate strategy towards strategic partnerships, manufacturing agreements and global licensing of its proprietary technology, within a significantly reduced monthly cash burn. Cost controls will remain in place and management's priority will be focused on the commercialisation of existing and proven intellectual property first. Based on an initial technology review following the incident on 28 May 2026, the Board is confident that, with the right manufacturing partner, future larger scale membrane-free technology can complete the full testing programme, as the smaller-scale units have already successfully demonstrated.
Whilst the Company has received non-binding expressions of interest, there can be no certainty at this time that the Fundraising will complete. Shareholders should note that, in the event that the Fundraising is not successful and alternative funding is not available on suitable terms or at all, the amount of working capital available to the Company will be severely limited. The current cash balance is sufficient for the Company to continue operating through to mid-July 2026.
For more information, please contact:
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Clean Power Hydrogen plc |
+44 1302 328075 |
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Jon Duffy, Chief Executive Officer |
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James Hobson, Chief Financial Officer |
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Cavendish Capital Markets Limited - NOMAD & Joint Broker |
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Neil McDonald |
+44 (0)131 220 9771 |
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Peter Lynch |
+44 (0)131 220 9772 |
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Hanna Leijonmarck |
+44 (0)20 7220 6029 |
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Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited - Joint Broker |
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Andy Thacker |
+44 (0)20 3657 0050 |
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Guy McDougall |
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For more information: https://www.cph2.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to the Group's future prospects, developments and business strategies. Forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "potential", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will" or the negative of such terms and phrases, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. The forward-looking statements in this Announcement are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this Announcement. No statement in this Announcement is intended to constitute a profit forecast or profit estimate for any period. No representation or warranty is given as to the completeness or accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement. Neither the Directors nor the Company undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements other than as required by the AIM Rules for Companies or by the rules of any other securities regulatory authority, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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