Funding awarded for next stages of Sizewell C Direct Air Capture project

The funding from the government’s Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) competition will allow engineers from Nottingham University, Strata Technology, Atkins, Doosan Babcock and Sizewell C to construct a demonstrator DAC unit capable of extracting 100 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year.

“During Phase 1 our team of engineers, working alongside those from our partners, were able to develop a technically viable and commercially cost-effective process for capturing Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Roger Kimber, Strata Technology’s managing director. “Phase 2 funding has now provided us with the opportunity to develop our novel process to a scale where we can demonstrate just how effective our technology will be when deployed commercially and I am very excited to see the plant in action.”

Direct Air Capture involves removing carbon dioxide for storage and industrial uses, such as conversion into synthetic fuels.

According to EDF, most existing DAC systems are powered by electricity, natural gas, or both, but the consortium is working on a design where the CO2 capture and extraction is implemented using heat. If the demonstrator project is successful, a scaled-up DAC unit powered by heat from Sizewell C could eventually capture 1.5m tonnes of CO2 each year.