Clean Power Hydrogen launches ‘significant’ cost reduction bid after Doncaster site damaged
Clean Power Hydrogen has said that it is undertaking a “significant cost reduction programme” as it fights to recover from an incident which caused considerable damage at its Doncaster site last month.
The company announced at the end of last month that equipment at its site had suffered “significant damage”, with the firm subsequently suspending its operations. Clean Power Hydrogen also suspended its shares from trading on AIM following the incident.
In its latest announcement, the company also shed more light on last month's occurrence, which involved its MFE220 electrolyser unit – a piece of technology used for the production of clean hydrogen.
Clean Power Hydrogen said that an initial assessment had found that a hydrogen-oxygen mixture "ignited" during an automated depressurisation of the system, causing what the company described as a “loss of containment”.
The incident occurred as the unit was completing the final stages of its factory acceptance testing.
Clean Power Hydrogen confirmed in its latest statement that no personnel were injured in the incident.
The company added: “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 process is expected to be completed by the end of August, the firm said.
In its latest announcement, Clean Power Hydrogen said that its working capital position “remains contratrained”, adding that it was now undertaking a programme to significantly reduce costs.
The company said it is currently in discussions with capital providers and brokers regarding a potential equity raise to secure the required capital to transition its business model.
It comes after the company announced earlier this month that it would not continue its manufacturing activities following the incident.
The firm told investors that it would now adopt a more “capital-light” business model, shifting its focus away from manufacturing to research and development and the licensing of intellectual property.
The company said the move would support the realignment of its corporate strategy, adding: “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.”
Clean Power Hydrogen said that if its latest fundraise goes ahead, it will also enable the suspension of its trading on AIM to be lifted.
The firm added in its statement: “Whilst the company has received non-binding expressions of interest, there can be no certainty at this time that the fundraising will complete”
It comes after Clean Power Hydrogen said earlier this month that there remained “material uncertainty” over its continuing operations
Clean Power Hydrogen holds 16 patents across 12 jurisdictions for its technology, including USA, Japan, India and across the Middle East, with a further 17 patents pending.
The firm added that its investigations had established that key parts of its technology – its proprietary membrane-free stack and associated separators – were not the cause of last month’s incident.