Utility and Seongnam City Sign H2Gen® Hydrogen Demonstration and Certification Project

Groundbreaking "Frontier Korea" facility to advance economic industrial decarbonization and hydrogen innovation in one of the world's leading clean energy markets

HOUSTON and SEONGNAM, South Korea, Oct. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Utility, the global economic industrial decarbonization company headquartered in the USA, who is currently commercializing its proprietary and proven H2Gen® technology platform, today announced it has signed a Project Agreement with the Seongnam Municipal Government of Korea at Seongnam City Hall to establish an H2Gen Demonstration and Certification plant at the Seongnam Water Reclamation Center.

Utility and Seongnam City Sign H2Gen® Hydrogen Demonstration and Certification Project

Seongnam has long been a leader and innovator in circular economy and clean energy initiatives such as hydrogen. Seongnam will host the Project, known as the "Frontier Korea" facility, which is the first of its kind outside of the US.

The agreement represents a strategic initiative to support South Korea's Hydrogen Economy Roadmap which prioritizes biogas and hydrogen as energy sources to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. The country is investing heavily in biogas projects, converting organic waste into clean energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance waste management.

Frontier Korea will see Utility build and operate a clean-carbon hydrogen production plant producing over 99.995% pure hydrogen (fuel-cell grade) and deliver hydrogen to the E1 hydrogen refueling station in Seongnam for use in fuel-cell buses, trucks, and cars. Korea has one of the most developed hydrogen-powered vehicle markets in the world, which Utility believes holds significant potential for its H2Gen technology. Through H2Gen, Utility electrochemically produces hydrogen from water without electricity, utilizing raw biogas energy from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste.

This Project will also verify H2Gen® hydrogen production technology in Korea by meeting Korea Gas Safety standards, paving the path for rapid expansion in Korea across multiple industry sectors. Korea is one of Utility's key focus markets given the significant opportunities in the nation across biogas, steel, refining and chemicals, all target markets for Utility's H2Gen technology. Utility also recently established a fully-owned subsidiary in Seongnam, Utility Korea LLC, and made a qualifying investment under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act (FIPA).

"This project marks an innovative step beyond the traditional role of wastewater treatment, establishing a foundation for clean energy," adding, "It is expected to advance carbon neutrality, resource circulation, clean energy infrastructure, and international cooperation — thereby enhancing Seongnam City's ESG values," stated Lim Jong-cheol, Deputy Mayor of Seongnam Municipal Government. "Our collaboration with Utility represents a continued commitment towards these important objectives."

On October 10, Utility started operations on its US-based Frontier Facility in Houston, Texas, where long duration runtimes with various feed gases and 24/7 operations will continue to show H2Gen®'s versatility and wide applicability in economic industrial decarbonization. The Frontier Korea facility will be a near replica of this proven modular plant.

"Korea, a demonstrated leader in decarbonization, is a strategic priority for our company," stated Parker Meeks, Chief Executive Officer and President of Utility. "We applaud the Seongnam Municipal Government, for its decision to join us on this important project, to enable our H2Gen® technology's ability to deliver game-changing economic decarbonization in multiple industrial sectors in Korea, starting with heavy mobility."

About Utility Global

Utility delivers practical solutions that drive economic industrial decarbonization across industries such as steel, mobility, refining, chemicals, and upstream oil & gas. The company's breakthrough H2Gen® technology harnesses energy from industrial off-gases and biogases to produce application-specific high-purity, low-to-negative carbon intensity hydrogen on-site from water, without electricity, using its proprietary electrochemical process. H2Gen also produces a high-concentration carbon dioxide stream, which can eliminate or reduce the cost of carbon capture. H2Gen systems are modular, scalable, and operationally flexible, integrating seamlessly into existing hard-to-abate industrial assets with a record small footprint, enabling practical, economic decarbonization.

Utility is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a global private equity and infrastructure firm that is decarbonizing the industrial economy." For more information, visit www.utilityglobal.com.

About Ara Partners

Ara Partners is a global private equity and infrastructure investment firm focused on industrial decarbonization. Founded in 2017, Ara Partners seeks to build and scale companies with significant decarbonization impact across the industrial and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy efficiency and green fuels, and food and agriculture sectors. The company operates from offices in Houston, Boston, Washington D.C., and Dublin. Ara Partners closed its third private equity fund in December 2023 with over $2.8 billion in capital commitments. As of June 30, 2025, Ara Partners had approximately $6.6 billion of assets under management.

For more information about Ara Partners, please visit www.arapartners.com.

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