Key take-aways:
- Climeworks and Great Carbon Valley (GCV) are exploring the development of large-scale DAC+S projects in Kenya.
- Together, they aim to establish DAC+S projects capable of removing up to one million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, commencing with exploring suitable locations, low-carbon energy sources, and safe and permanent mineralization storage.
- As highlighted at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi this month, Kenya's geological advantages and abundant low-carbon energy sources make it a very promising location for large-scale DAC+S deployment.
- According to climate science, carbon dioxide removal, including via DAC+S, must be scaled up drastically and globally in the coming decades.
- Climeworks, GCV and Kenya can play a pivotal role in this endeavor by rapidly advancing responsible DAC+S deployment in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley.
- At NY Climate Week, Christoph Gebald, co-CEO of Climeworks, and Bilha Ndirangu, CEO of Great Carbon Valley, met with Ali Mohamed, Climate Change Envoy at the Executive Office of the President of Kenya, to discuss the project. The government of Kenya welcomes the initiative and will support the investment in any way required.
[New York, 21 September 2023] – Climeworks, a global leader in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) via direct air capture (DAC) technology, and Great Carbon Valley (GCV), a pioneering Kenyan systems integrator and project development venture focused on decarbonization, have announced their intention to jointly explore the development of large-scale direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) projects in Kenya. The projects would leverage Climeworks' advanced DAC technology, its deployment experience with the only operating commercial-scale DAC+S facility worldwide, and Kenya’s potential for low-carbon energy and permanent carbon mineralization in the deep underground for storage.
The collaboration between GCV and Climeworks is anchored by an agreement that envisions the development of direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) projects in Kenya with a pathway of removing up to one million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere once fully deployed.
Both parties intend to realize a DAC+S plant that could take up operations as early as 2028, provided that local energy and storage infrastructure can be developed and implemented. As a next step, GCV now explores potential storage and energy opportunities with various key collaborators to meet the requirements for low-carbon, cost-effective, and safe direct air capture and storage operations in Kenya. Climeworks and GCV are committed to modeling and implementing the projects by leveraging local workforce and supply chains.
The collaboration with GCV, an Africa Climate Ventures-backed business, underscores the strategic advantages of Kenya as a promising location for further DAC+S deployment. Kenya’s Great Rift Valley provides the geological potential for safe and permanent CO2 mineralization in the deep underground, similar to Iceland's proven model. Additionally, Kenya offers abundant potential for low-carbon energy sources, including geothermal, wind, and solar energy generation.
Carbon dioxide removal must be significantly scaled up to meet the pathways described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. According to the IPCC, the world must remove an estimated 3-12 gigatons of CO2 from the air annually by 2050. DAC+S is expected to play a pivotal role.
Climeworks is dedicated to leading the global roll-out of DAC+S with the utmost integrity. The collaboration with Great Carbon Valley marks the first step in validating the region’s potential for scalable, high-quality, DAC+S deployment that could position the country as one of the pioneers in the global carbon removal efforts crucial to fight climate change.
“Kenya's unique qualities make it a forerunner for effective carbon dioxide removal through DAC+S. Partnering with Great Carbon Valley, we're exploring this high potential, combining our field experience to unlock a key contribution from Kenya to global decarbonization. Climeworks is set on being a pivotal player in this arena, both in Kenya and on the world stage", said Christoph Gebald, co-CEO and co-Founder of Climeworks.
Bilha Ndirangu, CEO of Great Carbon Valley said: “East Africa is home to abundant untapped renewable energy potential including world-class solar, wind and geothermal energy resources, and basalt formations necessary to catalyze a vibrant carbon removals industry. We are thrilled to partner with Climeworks to deploy its advanced DAC technology in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley and together validate the region’s significant potential for scalable, high-quality, permanent carbon removal in support of global decarbonization efforts.”
Digital rendering of Climeworks' DAC plants - Kenya - for illustrative purposes only. ©Climeworks
About Climeworks
Climeworks is a global leader in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as a service via direct air capture (DAC) technology, empowering companies to advance their net zero roadmaps and fight global warming.
Founded by engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher in 2009, Climeworks is on a journey to climate impact at scale with integrity at its core and a focus on high-quality, permanent carbon dioxide removal services.
Climeworks is spearheading the DAC industry globally, with the world’s only commercial DAC facility combined with storage in operation, modular CO2 collectors designed for scalability, and facilities running on low-carbon energy. Their growing customer base counts over 160 companies, including multinationals such as Microsoft, BCG, UBS, and Swiss Re.
At Orca, Climeworks’ DAC facility in Iceland, the CO2 is permanently removed from the air by capturing and geologically storing it for thousands of years with Climeworks’ underground mineralization partner Carbfix. The CDR services delivered from Orca are verified by independent 3rd party DNV.
About Great Carbon Valley
Great Carbon Valley (GCV) is a pioneering systems integrator and project development venture working to harness the abundant resources of the Great Rift Valley towards global decarbonization efforts by seeding, planning, making catalytic investments in, and ultimately executing large-scale technical carbon removals and green industry projects.
An African Climate Ventures-backed company, GCV aims to develop green industrial parks that serve as turnkey solutions for energy-intensive businesses, enabling them to operate with enhanced efficiency and achieve net zero targets. GCV is working with a network of actors, including energy concession holders, direct air capture technology ventures, carbon storage providers, green industries, and project financiers, to develop Africa’s leading renewable energy-powered direct air capture and carbon storage (DAC+S) installation hubs and green manufacturing industrial parks along the vast Great Rift Valley.