JERA Invests in Natural Hydrogen Explorer Koloma: What It Means for Low-Carbon Hydrogen
chemanalyst.comJERA has taken a minority stake in Koloma, a Denver-based company exploring natural hydrogen deposits underground. The investment comes through JERA Ventures and is meant to help the Japanese utility assess whether geological hydrogen can become a real low-carbon energy source. Koloma has raised over $400 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Amazon. Natural hydrogen is still unproven at commercial scale. The US Geological Survey estimates about 5.6 trillion tonnes could exist underground, but that number is not a reserve estimate. No one has yet built a commercial-scale production project, so the near-term impact on hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, or urea prices is minimal. Still, the deal matters because it shows large energy players are willing to spend early money on an unproven resource. If exploration works and extraction costs come down, natural hydrogen could eventually give chemicals and steelmakers a lower-carbon feedstock. That is a big if, and this investment is an early test, not a breakthrough.