Key facts
- UnionDAC, a joint venture of UK clean tech firms, plans Europe's largest direct air capture project.
- The facility will be located on Teesside and aims to begin operations in 2030.
- By 2032, the project is projected to capture 60,000 tons of CO2 annually.
- The UK's existing CO2 transport infrastructure and geological storage potential are key advantages.
UK clean energy technology firms have established a joint venture, UnionDAC, to construct and manage what is intended to be Europe's largest direct air capture (DAC) project. The venture, a collaboration between Airhive, Mission Zero Technologies, and Progressive Energy, will be located in Teesside.
UnionDAC anticipates commencing carbon dioxide removal in 2030, with plans to capture 60,000 tons of CO2 annually by 2032. Executives from the participating firms expressed confidence in the UK's potential to lead in carbon removal technologies, citing the country's developing CO2 transport infrastructure and suitable geological formations for storage in the East Irish Sea and North Sea.
If realized as planned, the Teesside facility would surpass the scale of the Mammoth project in Iceland, led by Switzerland-based Climeworks AG, which is designed to capture up to 36,000 tons of CO2 per year. Climeworks co-CEO Christoph Gebald has highlighted the need for more buyers and supportive regulations to scale carbon removal technologies, suggesting a shift from project-by-project financing to bankable industrial infrastructure.
Globally, Occidental and its subsidiary 1PointFive are constructing the STRATOS DAC facility in Texas, which is expected to be the world's largest upon completion, with a capacity of 500,000 tons of CO2 per year.