Major projects
In May 2017, the company opened a commercial direct air capture plant in Hinwil, Switzerland, designed to filter from ambient air. It consisted of 18 collector containers that together had a nominal capture capacity of 900 tons of per year. The plant was installed on the roof of a waste incineration facility that provided waste heat to power the machines. The that the plant captured was sold to a nearby greenhouse operator for use as fertilizer[12] and to Coca-Cola HBC to produce the sparkling water Valser.[13] The Hinwil facility stopped its operations in October 2022, as Climeworks pivoted from selling to storing the greenhouse gas permanently underground.[14]
In October 2017, the demo project “CarbFix2” followed. As part of the Horizon 2020 research project, the CarbFix2 project at the Hellisheiði Power Station in Iceland filtered from the air with Climeworks technology, which was then stored underground in Iceland's basaltic rock, where it mineralizes.[11]
In September 2021, Climeworks launched “Orca”, a large direct air capture and storage facility, with a nominal capture capacity of up to 4,000 tons of per year.[15][16] Like the pilot project CarbFix2, the operating facility is located near the Hellisheiði Power Station, which provides geothermal energy to run the Orca plant, and the air-captured is stored underground by Climeworks’ storage partner Carbfix.[17]
In May 2024, Climeworks launched "Mammoth", its largest direct air capture and storage facility to date. Located in Hellisheiði, Iceland, this plant is the 18th project undertaken by Climeworks and its second facility designed for commercial direct air capture and storage. Utilizing direct air capture (DAC) technology and Iceland's geothermal energy, Mammoth has the capacity to capture up to 36,000 tons of annually[18] The captured at this facility is mineralized and stored underground in basalt formations through a collaboration with Carbfix.[19]
Commercial services
Climeworks operates commercial direct air capture facilities and provides carbon dioxide removal services to both companies and individuals.[20]
Several corporations have purchased Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal, including Stripe,[21] Microsoft,[22] Swiss Re,[23] and BCG.[24] As of February 2023, the number of individuals who have subscribed to Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal service exceeds 18,000.
