Climeworks Mammoth

Orca: the first large-scale plant

Located in Iceland, Orca is the world's first large-scale carbon dioxide removal plant.

Icon Capture Capacity

Capture capacity

Up to 4’000 tons of CO₂ per year

Prove technology
2017 First of its kind
Create market
2021 Launch of Orca
Enable scale-up
2022 Largest DAC Plant
Volume production

From vision to reality: Orca is launched

On September 8, 2021, we launched Orca, the world’s first and largest direct air capture and storage plant, making carbon dioxide removal on large-scale a reality.

We improved the capture capacity of Orca by applying a new technology design. The facility consists of eight collector containers, with an annual capture capacity of 500 tons each. The containers are arranged around a central process hall that accommodates all electrics, such as the processing unit, allowing us to operate and control the facility from afar.  

The heat and electricity required to run the direct air capture process is supplied by the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant. An important aspect was that Orca is smoothly integrated into the beautiful Icelandic landscape. We therefore chose earthy colours and natural materials that give it a natural touch. 

Status
Operational
Date
September 2021
Goal
Significant scale-up of Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal capacity

The virtual tour of the Orca plant

Nathalie Casas, Head of Technology at Climeworks
Nathalie Casas, Head of Technology at Climeworks
«Orca is Climeworks’ biggest facility to date. We are grateful for the pioneers that enabled us to increase the carbon dioxide removal capacity in Iceland. This facility demonstrates that carbon dioxide removal on a large scale is both possible and necessary.»

Orca in the news

Climeworks direct air capture & storage plant Orca
The Economist

Shortly after 6 pm on September 9th, the Orca carbon-capture plant, just outside Reykjavik in Iceland, switched on its fans and began sucking carbon dioxide from the air.
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Pipes of a direct air capture plant
Reuters

The world's largest plant that sucks carbon dioxide directly from the air and deposits it underground is due to start operating on Wednesday, the company behind the nascent green technology said.
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Carbon dioxide removal plant
The Financial Times

The start-up behind the world’s biggest direct carbon capture plant said it would build a much larger facility that would permanently remove millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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Launch of the world’s first large-scale direct air capture and storage plant

The 8th September 2021 marked a monumental milestone in our company history, launching Orca, the world’s first large-scale direct air capture + storage plant with our Icelandic partner Carbfix.

The day began with the former President of Iceland, Mr. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who opened the launch event, followed by Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, and Mr. Dagur B Eggertsson, Mayor of Reykjavik. We also welcomed renowned climate scientists Dr. Julio Friedmann of Columbia University and Prof. Thomas Stocker of the University of Bern, as well as Noah Deich, co-Founder and President of climate-focused NGO, Carbon180. And last but certainly not least, Dr. Edda Aradottir, CEO of Carbfix- together with our co-CEOs Jan Wurzbacher and Christoph Gebald, who brought their vision of industrial-scale direct air capture and storage into reality.

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There’s more to come, help us unlock the next, even larger plant!