In Canada, Carbon Engineering Ltd (CE), a direct air capture (DAC) technology developer, has broken ground on its new Innovation Centre in Squamish, British Columbia (BC), due to be completed by August 2021. The Carbon Engineering Innovation Centre will be CE’s permanent business and advanced development headquarters where the company will further optimize and innovate its carbon removal and clean energy solutions.
Carbon Engineerings’s Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology removes carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere at large scale, and its complementary “AIR TO FUELS” technology produces ultra-low carbon intensity fuels out of captured atmospheric CO2, water, and clean electricity.
This is a very exciting milestone for CE. The Innovation Centre will enable us to continue to advance our technology here in Squamish, British Columbia, positioning CE as a global leader in the critical and growing field of Direct Air Capture. The Innovation Centre will allow CE to optimize and improve its technology which can help countries, companies, and individuals achieve their net-zero targets and make a material impact in the fight against climate change, said Steve Oldham, CEO of Carbon Engineering.
Located in the Newport Beach Oceanfront Development, south of downtown Squamish, the centre will include a 1 250 m2 building to be used as operations and laboratory space, and a new, fully integrated Direct Air Capture and “AIR TO FUELS” plant.
Construction of the project will create approximately 45 full-time local jobs over the span of a year, in addition to the current Carbon Engineering team of 90 full-time employees.
A first commercial plant being developed
Carbon Engineering’s Innovation Centre is being constructed concurrently with the design and engineering work of the company’s first commercial plant with its partner Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, which when completed, will be the world’s largest DAC facility, capable of capturing one million tonnes of CO2 per year.
CE marked the breaking ground moment with a small, socially-distant gathering at the site in Squamish, which was attended by the Honourable Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Her Worship Karen Elliott, District of Squamish Mayor, Michael Hutchison, a CE board member and President of Huron Clean Energy, CE’s Canadian plant development partner, and John Matthews of Matthews West, the real-estate development company managing the Oceanfront Squamish project.
Today’s groundbreaking marks an exciting milestone for Carbon Engineering and for Squamish. Carbon Engineering has continued to grow and add high-value jobs locally, but perhaps more importantly, the development of the Innovation Centre signals that our community has created an environment in which companies can deliver cutting edge, clean technologies globally. Squamish’s outdoor lifestyle, our vision to achieve carbon neutrality, and our economic development efforts to support innovators in clean and green technology creates a compelling environment and aligns well with the priorities of our provincial and federal counterparts. We’re so glad that Carbon Engineering made Squamish it’s home and that our coastal mountain community is now the backdrop to their world-class technology, said Her Worship Karen Elliott, District of Squamish Mayor.
Development of the Innovation Centre is supported by a CA$25 million repayable contribution by the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund and over CA$100 million of private funding from CE’s investors.
Carbon Engineering’s achievements in clean technology are a great example of our CleanBC plan in action. Their new Innovation Centre will do more than just reduce pollution – it will bring new economic development opportunities to Squamish, putting the community and our province on a path to a cleaner, better future, said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.
