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(Sharecast News) - Clean Power Hydrogen said on Friday that its shares had been suspended from trading on AIM after an incident during final factory acceptance testing of its 1MW MFE220 unit caused significant equipment damage and left the company facing a constrained working capital position.
The AIM-traded developer of membrane-free electrolyser technology said the unit experienced an unexpected error in the final stages of testing at its secure test site in Rossington, near Doncaster, causing it to begin a standard shutdown procedure.
During that shutdown, the unit suffered an incident that caused significant damage to the equipment.
CPH2 said all operations had been suspended in line with its health, safety and environmental processes, and that a thorough investigation was underway into the original error and subsequent failure.
The company said the incident would materially delay successful completion of the third and final factory acceptance test for the MFE220 unit, which had previously been expected during May.
CPH2 also said it had been in discussions with existing shareholders and prospective new investors over a potential equity fundraising to support the next phase of technical and commercial development after completion of the FAT.
Those discussions had now been paused pending greater technical clarity following the incident.
As a result, the company said it had a constrained working capital position, with the board actively assessing potential funding and strategic options to address its immediate liquidity requirement.
CPH2 said it was reviewing its insurance position in relation to the incident and assessing potential implications for customer commercial arrangements, adding that discussions and investigations remained ongoing.
Due to the uncertainty over its financial position, limited working capital and the testing incident, the company requested that its shares be suspended from trading on AIM from 0730 BST on Friday.
"This is a disappointing outcome as we approached the final FAT Level 3 testing," said chief executive officer Jon Duffy.
"However, we will immediately start work towards resolving this technical issue so that we are able to minimise any commercial impact on our business."
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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