H2Au’s Kansas Hydrogen Project Selected for US$1.5 Million DOE-Supported Research Initiative
H2Au’s Kansas natural hydrogen project has been selected as a field site for a US Department of Energy-supported public-private research initiative that will use US$1.5 million in government funding to advance geologic hydrogen exploration, appraisal and commercial assessment methods.
The program brings together privately owned H2Au, joint venture partner 45-8 ENERGY, the Department of Energy’s National Laboratory of the Rockies and Idaho National Laboratory, and the Kansas Geological Survey.
At the centre of the initiative is H2Au’s active Kansas drilling campaign, which will provide a real-world exploration setting where researchers can work with data and samples from planned wells rather than relying solely on laboratory experiments or theoretical geological models.
H2Au is currently drilling its first Kansas wells through its joint venture with 45-8 ENERGY. Under the new research collaboration, those wells will effectively become a testbed for examining both the scientific characteristics of the hydrogen system and the factors that could determine whether it can ultimately support commercial production.
Researchers from the national laboratories will work alongside H2Au to assess subsurface characteristics, reservoir performance and production feasibility.
The program will draw on expertise spanning geochemistry, reservoir modelling, subsurface imaging, microbiology and techno-economic analysis, creating a multidisciplinary framework for evaluating what happens underground and what those results could mean economically.
That commercial component is particularly significant.
Natural hydrogen exploration has increasingly demonstrated that hydrogen can occur in subsurface geological systems, but detecting hydrogen does not by itself establish a commercially viable resource. Concentration, formation pressure, reservoir quality, connectivity, sustainable production rates and development costs all influence whether an occurrence can ultimately support production.
The H2Au research program is intended to examine those variables using observations from an active drilling campaign and develop methods for determining how natural hydrogen might be produced at commercially sustainable rates.
The participating researchers will also provide an independent assessment of the project’s commercial development potential based on the technical information generated through the program.
H2Au CEO Owain Jackson described the award as an important milestone for both the company and the wider natural hydrogen sector, highlighting the opportunity to combine an active exploration program with expertise from major US research institutions.
For the research institutions, access to an operating field project provides something that remains relatively scarce in the emerging geologic hydrogen sector: new wells specifically designed to investigate natural hydrogen systems.
Data and samples from the Kansas drilling campaign can be used to examine how geological structures, reservoir properties, geochemistry and potentially biological processes interact within a real subsurface environment.
The collaboration is also intended to produce something broader than a technical assessment of H2Au’s individual Kansas project.
The partners aim to establish a transferable, field-validated workflow for evaluating geologic hydrogen resources that could subsequently be applied to other projects in the United States and internationally.
That objective reflects the early stage of the natural hydrogen industry.
Oil, gas and geothermal exploration benefit from decades of established workflows for interpreting reservoirs, testing wells and assessing development potential. Natural hydrogen is still developing equivalent methodologies for determining which geological occurrences warrant further appraisal and how potential resources should be evaluated commercially.
By combining drilling information with national laboratory research and techno-economic assessment, the Kansas program is intended to help close part of that gap.
Full press release is attached below:
Kansas hydrogen project chosen as field site for major public-private research initiative designed to advance geologic hydrogen exploration and commercialisation
NEW YORK (September 22, 2026) – H2Au, a privately-owned natural hydrogen explorer (the "Company"), today announced that its Kansas hydrogen exploration project has been selected for a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-supported public-private research programme that will leverage US$1.5 million of government funding to advance natural hydrogen technologies, workflows and commercial assessment methodologies.
The initiative brings together H2Au, its joint venture partner 45-8 ENERGY, DOE’s National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) in a public-private collaboration focused on advancing geologic hydrogen exploration, appraisal and commercialisation.
H2Au's active Kansas drilling campaign will serve as a real-world testbed for validating scientific approaches and commercial assessment methods that could support future geologic hydrogen projects in the United States and internationally.
The award places H2Au among a small number of projects selected to participate in the initiative and reflects the significance of the company's Kansas exploration programme and the DOE’s recognition of natural hydrogen as an emerging energy resource for the U.S. economy
"This award is an important milestone for H2Au and for the natural hydrogen sector," said Owain Jackson, CEO of H2Au. "By combining H2Au's active drilling programme with the expertise of leading U.S. research institutions, we have a unique opportunity to accelerate our understanding of geologic hydrogen systems and the factors that underpin their commercial development. We are proud that our Kansas project has been selected for this initiative."
Researchers from NLR and INL will work alongside H2Au to evaluate the key technical and commercial factors that underpin successful geologic hydrogen development. Drawing on data and samples from H2Au's planned Kansas exploration wells, the team will assess subsurface characteristics, reservoir performance and production feasibility using expertise in geochemistry, reservoir modelling, subsurface imaging, microbiology and techno-economic evaluation. The objective is to determine how best to produce natural hydrogen at commercially sustainable rates, providing an independent assessment of its commercial development potential.
"NLR is excited to work alongside H2Au, INL and KGS on this initiative," said Xiaofei Pu, Principal Investigator at NLR. "Geologic hydrogen represents one of the most exciting opportunities in the energy sector. This programme provides a rare opportunity to evaluate an active hydrogen project and develop approaches that can support future hydrogen development."
The collaboration aims to establish a transferable, field-validated workflow for evaluating geologic hydrogen resources that can be applied across future projects in the United States and internationally. Findings are expected to contribute to the broader development of the geologic hydrogen sector while supporting H2Au's ongoing commercial activities.
The announcement comes as H2Au hosts its inaugural Natural Hydrogen Investor Forum in New York, taking a leading role in convening investors, industry leaders and media around the future development of natural hydrogen.
Media contact: info@h2au.co
About H2Au
Founded in 2022, H2Au is a privately-owned, UK-headquartered natural hydrogen exploration company. Combining proven exploration techniques with proprietary play-based geological models, H2Au identifies, leases and develops natural hydrogen resources with the goal of commercialising them as a low-cost, low-carbon energy source.
The Company holds an extensive portfolio of exclusive exploration licences across the United States and South Africa, and is currently drilling its first wells in Kansas as part of a joint venture with 45-8 ENERGY.
