‘Universal Hydrogen’ goes under; Albuquerque plans halted

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It was a green-energy company promising hundreds of jobs for Albuquerque, but that promise has dried up. More than two years ago, a Universal Hydrogen manufacturing facility announced they were coming to Albuquerque with the state and the city ready to pour millions into the project.

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But the company has gone belly up; so what does that mean for the city? KRQE News 13 asked Albuquerque’s Economic Development Director Max Gruner.

“If anything, the story around Universal Hydrogen is not so much a cautionary tale as it is I think a wake-up call that we can’t be passive, we need to be active and we really need to make some decisions as to how we want to support some of these industries and some of these entrepreneurs who are working in that field,” Gruner said.

In March 2022, the California-based hydrogen firm Universal Hydrogen announced designs to build a manufacturing facility in Albuquerque at the Aviation Center of Excellence next to the Sunport. The decision was met with fanfare from the state and the city.

“There was a lot of excitement because what Universal Hydrogen was attempting to do is decarbonize aviation, particularly regional aviation which is one of the most challenging spaces in decarbonization when it comes to transportation,” Gruner said.

The company would have built kits for airplanes to run off hydrogen instead of jet fuel. They promised to bring hundreds of jobs with the facility; but late last month, news broke that the company is going under.

I am incredibly proud of what the Universal Hydrogen team has achieved to accelerate the decarbonization of aviation with remarkable technical execution on a tight timeline. Despite their achievements we were unable to secure the capital required to continue their ambitious and important work. We are very grateful to New Mexico and Albuquerque for their collaboration and support.

Peter Barrett, Playground Global, Director, Universal Hydrogen Co.

“Whereas we are saddened by those particular jobs by the loss of that particular industry and kind of the gravitational pull that Universal Hydrogen might have been able to exert in terms of the energy transition, we’re doing very well in terms of moving this economy forward,” Gruner said, in response to whether this would be a blow to the Duke City’s economy.

The state had promised $10 million in economic development funds to help Universal Hyrdogen get off the ground; however, the state’s Economic Development Department says it was not spent.

In March 2022, Universal Hydrogen announced that it had chosen a site at the Albuquerque International Sunport for a manufacturing and distribution center where it would move forward with a business model that could result in low-carbon, hydrogen-powered regional air travel.

The N.M. Economic Development Department pledged up to $10 million in assistance to Universal Hydrogen from the LEDA Job-Creation Fund when the company developed its Albuquerque site and commenced hiring several hundred employees. Universal Hydrogen never moved forward with the LEDA agreement, known as a Project Participation Agreement, and no state tax dollars have been paid to Universal Hydrogen. Universal Hydrogen’s receivership and financial situation highlights again the challenging environment for small start-ups and why businesses like this often need government assistance to commercialize technology.

Earlier this year, Universal Hydrogen was named to the list of Most Innovative Companies in 2024 by Fast Money. The state remains committed to assisting new businesses, especially when the innovations can better the climate and create high-paying jobs.

Mark Roper, Acting Cabinet Secretary NM Economic Development Department

The city also voted to kick in $2 million more, but officials also say none of it was ever spent. “There was never a request from Universal for any reimbursement, so no reimbursements have been given,” Gruner said.

All hope is not lost for this plot of land though: the city’s economic development department says there’s still a lot of interest for this area, and they’re looking at ways to move forward. “We have a number of really exciting projects in the pipeline and these will be traditional projects like people wanting to lease the land and to put up a manufacturing facility to put up a business,” Gruner said.

The Albuquerque International Sunport, which owns the land Universal Hydrogen would have built on said they are also looking at making the property more move-in ready:

We’ve been working with Universal Hydrogen with the understanding that they’ve experienced difficulties within their business model, and we’ve been preparing for some time to shift our strategy to a master developer plan for this property. Similar to what we’ve done with Mesa Film Studios at Double Eagle II, we believe by engaging with public-private partnerships, we can create move-in ready properties that will give us a much stronger advantage with recruitment and retention.

Leah Black, Outreach & Marketing Manager at the Albuquerque International Sunport

KRQE News 13 also reached out to the Governor’s Office for comment but are still waiting to hear back.

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