JERA invests in Koloma and natural hydrogen as a frontier

Natural hydrogen is still an exploration frontier, with no commercial-scale resource established. JERA, Japan's largest power generator, invested in Denver-based Koloma through JERA Ventures, an arm with USD 300 million of capacity. The amount was not disclosed. Koloma has raised over USD 400 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Amazon.

The geological picture comes from the USGS study by Ellis and Gelman in Science Advances, December 13, 2024: the most probable in-place resource is about 5.6 trillion tonnes, within a very wide uncertainty range. Most is likely impractical to recover; a fraction of about 100 billion tonnes would meet net-zero demand for around 200 years.

With this uncertainty, early-stage funding comes from capital that accepts geological risk. A power generator stepping in, stating it wants to understand the potential, shows where demand would be if the resource is proven.

The first milestone is geological: a well with measurable flow and purity. The contract comes after.