Why a Japanese Power Giant Is Betting on Denver's Koloma

Koloma, a Denver-based natural hydrogen exploration company, has added Japan's largest power generator to its investor list. JERA invested through JERA Ventures, its $300 million corporate venture arm. The deal brings fresh Asian capital into US geologic hydrogen, a low-carbon fuel that forms underground and doesn't need to be manufactured.

Founded in 2021, Koloma completed a test drilling program in Kansas by early 2025. That state sits in the US midcontinent, which federal geologists rank among the most promising regions for natural hydrogen. The investment amount was not disclosed in JERA's October 15, 2026 announcement, republished on Decarbonfuse.

How Does Koloma Find Natural Hydrogen?

Koloma finds natural hydrogen by pairing proprietary geological data with specialized exploration tools and field experience. It searches for hydrogen that already exists underground instead of manufacturing it.

That hydrogen forms through reactions like serpentinization, where groundwater meets iron-rich rocks such as olivine. Similar rock chemistry also powers in-situ mineralization for permanent CO₂ storage, which turns carbon dioxide into solid rock.

Koloma's backers include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Amazon. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Osaka Gas joined in October 2024, the same month Koloma raised a $50 million Series B extension.

The company's footprint is wide. Koloma had about 20 million acres under exploration across the US, the Philippines, Australia, and Canada, according to a July 2026 episode of MCJ's Inevitable podcast.

The economics explain the interest. Rystad Energy has estimated natural hydrogen could cost around $1 per kilogram if viable deposits are proven, depending on purity and depth. That conditional estimate would sit below most current clean hydrogen production costs.

Koloma isn't alone in building data-driven methods for locating natural hydrogen. The natural hydrogen space had drawn more than $500 million in venture investment by mid-2026, according to Decarbonfuse's sector analysis.

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Why Is JERA Investing in US Natural Hydrogen?

JERA is investing because it needs new low-carbon fuel options for a power fleet that supplies about one-third of Japan's electricity. The company targets net-zero CO₂ emissions from its domestic and overseas businesses by 2050.

JERA was established in 2015 by combining the fuel and thermal power businesses of TEPCO and Chubu Electric Power. It is also one of the largest LNG buyers in the world.

In May 2024, JERA unveiled a growth plan worth ¥5 trillion, about $32 billion, through fiscal year 2035. The plan spreads that capital across LNG, renewables, and hydrogen and ammonia. Its hydrogen and ammonia goal is roughly 7 million tonnes of annual handling volume by FY2035.

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JERA Ventures is built for patient bets like this one. Its head, Takeshi Kodama, told Global Corporate Venturing in 2025 that decarbonization startups can need 10 to 15 years to mature.

The unit invests in startups over an eight to 12-year window before harvesting returns. Its earlier US bets include electrolyzer startups Power to Hydrogen in August 2024 and Advanced Ionics in January 2025.

What Does the 5.6 Trillion Tonne Estimate Really Mean?

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates about 5.6 trillion tonnes of natural hydrogen may exist underground worldwide. Only a fraction is expected to be technically or economically recoverable.

The agency also published the first map of geologic hydrogen potential in the lower 48 states in January 2025. It ranked the midcontinent and the central California coast among the most prospective regions.

A usable deposit needs several conditions to line up. These include a hydrogen source, porous reservoir rock to hold the gas, and a seal that keeps it trapped.

So far, the sector's best-known producing example is a single well in Bourakébougou, Mali, which has supplied a local village since 2011. That's why JERA frames its move as deepening its understanding of natural hydrogen, not securing supply.

Where Is Koloma Exploring Right Now?

Koloma's US work spans Kansas and Northern California, where it has used both test drilling and surface surveys. The company also runs exploration programs abroad.

Location	Activity	Status
United States, Kansas	Test drilling program concluded by January 2025	Under evaluation
United States, Lake County, California	Magnetotelluric surface survey, no drilling	Early exploration
Philippines, Central Luzon and western Zambales	Three government service contracts covering more than 4,100 square kilometers	Active exploration
Australia	Exploration, with a Fleet Space Technologies partnership announced in 2025	Active exploration

Outside North America, Koloma's largest program is in the Philippines, which held the world's first competitive bid round for natural hydrogen exploration. Koloma won contracts there in October 2025 and July 2026, and a first well could be drilled as early as the end of 2026.

How Does This Deal Fit JERA's 2050 Strategy?

The Koloma deal adds a long-term option to a JERA fuel strategy built on LNG, ammonia, and hydrogen. Today, that strategy relies mainly on manufactured low-carbon fuels already moving into construction in the US.

The biggest example is Blue Point One in Modeste, Louisiana. CF Industries holds 40% of the $3.7 billion joint venture, JERA holds 35%, and Mitsui holds 25%.

The partners marked the Blue Point One groundbreaking on August 26, 2026. The plant will have a nameplate capacity of about 1.4 million metric tons of low-carbon ammonia a year, with production expected in 2029.

Blue Point One will send about 2.3 million metric tons of captured CO₂ a year to permanent storage at 1PointFive's Pelican Sequestration Hub. Natural hydrogen could complement that path, and Koloma's own estimate puts its carbon intensity at about 0.1 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent per kilogram of hydrogen.

What Comes Next for Natural Hydrogen?

The next milestone is drilling data that proves a producible deposit. JERA notes that commercial-scale natural hydrogen resources have yet to be established, so its stake works as a strategic learning position in an early market.

The timing is notable. Many clean hydrogen developers have worked through high costs and policy uncertainty in 2025 and 2026, including some US green hydrogen projects. Geologic hydrogen exploration has kept drawing fresh capital alongside them.

JERA now joins Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Osaka Gas among Japanese backers of Koloma. In 2024, Pete Johnson said large-scale production could begin by 2030 if exploration succeeds.

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