Positive LCFF Indicative Eligibility Review
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1 September 2026
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
(the "Company" or "HUI")
Positive LCFF Indicative Eligibility Review
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC (LSE: HUI), a pioneering company transforming non-recyclable waste plastic into hydrogen, clean fuels and advanced materials, focusing on advanced fuels such as jet fuel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel, is pleased to announce the outcome of the voluntary indicative eligibility check for HUI's project under the UK Department for Transport's Low Carbon Fuels Fund ("LCFF").
The check found the project as likely eligible against the majority of the LCFF's key eligibility criteria, including fuel pathway, projected greenhouse gas emissions performance, technology readiness level, feedstock, plant location and lead applicant status. The Board views this as an encouraging early step in the Company's engagement with the Fund, ahead of an anticipated full application, at which stage eligibility will be formally determined.
The LCFF is a Department for Transport grant scheme launched in June 2026 to support the UK's Sustainable Aviation Fuel sector in developing investable, commercial-scale projects capable of delivering significant near-term reductions in UK aviation emissions. Up to £93 million in grant funding is available under the current window, forming part of a wider £219 million low-carbon fuels package and building on £198 million already committed since 2022 through the Department's Advanced Fuels Fund. Support is being prioritised for first-of-a-kind commercial-scale projects nearing Final Investment Decision, alongside earlier-stage engineering and demonstration-scale projects, with the first funding window running through to 31 March 2028.
A small number of matters were identified as requiring further information or confirmation at the full application stage, including: acceptance of the terms of the Grant Funding Agreement; confirmation of the project completion timeline, evidencing that the activities could not otherwise be funded on reasonable commercial terms through private-sector investment; and confirmation that no prior public-sector funding has been received in respect of the same project elements, for Subsidy Control purposes. The Company is working to address these points and does not currently anticipate that they will prevent submission of a full application.
The Board believes that the development of a domestic SAF industry represents a significant opportunity for the UK. Based on the information currently available to the Company and discussions with industry participants and advisers, the Board believes that HUI's technology has the potential to be competitive, particularly in relation to projected economics and access to abundant feedstock, against a backdrop of increasing demand for SAF worldwide.
The Company notes that the SAF market is developing rapidly, with a number of competing technologies and production pathways at different stages of commercialisation. There can be no certainty that HUI's technology will achieve commercial deployment at the anticipated scale or economics, that a full LCFF application will be made or be successful, or that grant funding will be awarded.
The Company will provide further updates as its LCFF application progresses, including confirmation of any decision to proceed to full application, or upon any other material developments.
Aleksandra Binkowska, Chief Executive Officer of Hydrogen Utopia International PLC, commented: "This is a really encouraging outcome for us, and an important validation as we head towards a full application. When you look at where we sit against the other pathways to SAF such as power-to-liquid, alcohol-to-jet, HEFA - we think our economics are genuinely hard to beat. Those technologies all depend on feedstocks that are limited in supply and getting more expensive. We're on the other side of that equation: the current waste market pays end users to take unrecyclable plastics off people's hands, at a time when volumes and prices in the West are at record highs and countries that used to accept it increasingly reject it. Meanwhile demand for SAF isn't going away, it's mandated, and growing. That combination is what makes us so confident in our competitive position, and it's exactly the kind of project the LCFF was designed to support. We're looking forward to building on this as we move towards a full application".
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
Aleksandra Binkowska
+44 78 8077 0880
Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Limited (LSE Corporate Adviser)
Nick Michaels/Maya Klein Wassink
+44 20 8064 4056
Clear Capital Markets (Broker)
Bob Roberts
+44 (0)20 3869 6081
About Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
HUI aims to become one of the leading new companies specialising in converting non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen and other carbon-free fuels, new materials or distributed renewable heat.
A HUI facility uses non-recyclable mixed waste plastic as feedstock and turns it into syngas from which new products and energy can be produced. HUI anticipates that its revenues will be derived from a variety of sources, dependent upon location and configuration of the HUI facilities, including the sale of syngas, hydrogen and other gases, electricity and heat sales, and the payment to it of fees for a given quantity of non-recyclable mixed waste plastic received at a HUI facility.
HUI will target areas where there is significant private sector interest or potential, financial backing is accessible and or where substantial government funded sources of grants and loans are or may be available. The global increase in fossil fuel-based energy prices reinforces the need for alternative, price competitive energy sources, which HUI's business model can provide.
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