Utah Lab to Host Radical Hydrogen Tech in Bid for Clean Energy Future

ORANGEVILLE, Utah – September 15, 2026 – In a move that could position a corner of Utah's traditional energy heartland at the forefront of the clean energy transition, NewHydrogen, Inc. announced a strategic collaboration with the state-run Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL). The partnership will begin with an assessment of USREL's Orangeville facility as a potential home for the first-ever pilot plant of NewHydrogen's ThermoLoop®, a technology that promises to produce massive amounts of clean hydrogen at a disruptively low cost.

The announcement marks a critical juncture for NewHydrogen, a small California-based company with an outsized ambition: to produce the world's cheapest clean hydrogen. By moving to select a site for its first field deployment, the company is signaling a transition from laboratory-scale validation to the complex world of industrial engineering and real-world application. The choice of USREL, a facility designed to bridge energy research and commercialization, underscores a shared bet on innovation as the key to unlocking a hydrogen-powered future.

The ThermoLoop® Gambit: Using Heat to Redefine Hydrogen

At the core of NewHydrogen's strategy is a fundamental departure from the dominant method of clean hydrogen production. Today, most "green" hydrogen is created through electrolysis, a process that uses expensive electricity to split water molecules. While costs are falling, electricity can still account for over 70% of the final price, keeping electrolytic hydrogen at a premium, often between $5 and $7 per kilogram.

NewHydrogen's ThermoLoop® sidesteps this bottleneck by using heat—a far cheaper and more abundant energy source—to drive the water-splitting reaction. The technology employs a thermochemical process where solid-state materials react with water vapor in a continuous cycle. The company's key innovation, developed in partnership with researchers at UC Santa Barbara and protected by several patent applications, is a process that operates at "near isothermal reactions." This means all steps occur at roughly the same temperature, a solution to a long-standing challenge that has hindered previous thermochemical methods, which often required significant downtime for heating and cooling between stages.

By leveraging inexpensive heat from sources like industrial waste, concentrated solar, geothermal energy, or next-generation nuclear reactors, the company believes it can produce clean hydrogen for less than $2 per kilogram. This price point is the industry's holy grail, a level that would make clean hydrogen cost-competitive with, or even cheaper than, hydrogen produced from fossil fuels. It’s a bold claim, but one that, if proven, could accelerate decarbonization across transportation, agriculture, and heavy industry.

A Strategic Pivot for Utah's Energy Heartland

The potential siting of this pilot plant in Emery County is no accident. The region, with its deep roots in the coal industry, is actively seeking to diversify its energy portfolio and revitalize its economy. The Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, a $22 million state-funded facility, was established for precisely this purpose. Transferred to the management of the Utah Office of Energy Development in 2024, USREL's mission is to provide the space, equipment, and expertise for companies to test and scale new energy technologies.

USREL operates on a "landlord" model, offering its infrastructure to innovators like NewHydrogen rather than conducting projects itself. This makes it an ideal partner for a company transitioning from R&D to deployment. The initial site assessment will scrutinize the facility's utility capacity, infrastructure, and the local permitting landscape—critical due diligence for any pioneering industrial project.

“Site selection is a critical step as we move from validating ThermoLoop in the lab to deploying it in the field,” said Steve Hill, CEO of NewHydrogen, in the official announcement. “USREL's infrastructure and energy sector expertise make it a compelling location to evaluate as we plan our next phase of development.” For Utah, hosting the project could solidify its reputation as a hub for energy innovation, turning a community built on past energy booms into a proving ground for the next one.

High Risk, High Reward: The Economics of a Hydrogen Pioneer

Behind the technological promise lies the challenging reality of a pre-revenue development company. NewHydrogen, which trades on the OTCQB market, is a quintessential high-risk, high-reward venture. A review of its public filings reveals a company operating with consistent net losses and recent "going concern" warnings, a common feature for firms in the capital-intensive process of commercializing disruptive technology.

The company's survival and growth depend entirely on its ability to raise capital. Just this month, NewHydrogen secured an equity financing agreement for up to $3 million, a funding mechanism that allows it to sell shares over time to finance operations. This financial precarity is reflected in its stock performance, which has seen a significant decline over the past year as it navigates the long road from concept to cash flow.

This context makes the planned pilot plant an existential milestone. It serves as the crucial bridge between the company’s currently operating Engineering Test Unit (ETU) and the vision of gigawatt-scale production. A successful pilot would not only validate the ThermoLoop® technology in a real-world setting but would also dramatically de-risk the company in the eyes of investors, potentially unlocking the much larger pools of capital needed for commercial-scale expansion.

From Lab Bench to Industrial Reality

The collaboration with USREL is a non-binding, first step. The path forward is laden with challenges. The ThermoLoop® system must first prove its continuous, automated performance in the ETU. Following that, the company must navigate Utah's state and local permitting processes and, most importantly, secure the funding to build the pilot plant itself.

The competitive landscape is fierce. While NewHydrogen targets the cost of electricity, established players in electrolysis are rapidly scaling manufacturing to drive down their own costs. The global clean hydrogen market, projected to exceed $6 billion by 2034, is attracting billions in investment. Success will require not only technological superiority but also speed and flawless execution.

This initial site assessment in Orangeville, therefore, represents more than just a logistical step. It is the first tangible move to see if a brilliant concept, born in a university lab and nurtured by a small, ambitious company, has what it takes to transform a global industry estimated by Goldman Sachs to be worth $12 trillion in the future.