Kenya-based direct air capture (DAC) company, Octavia Carbon and Cella Mineral Storage – a carbon mineralization company which specializes in turning carbon dioxide into rock will establish a pilot DAC facility at Cella Mineral’s storage plant in Naivasha, Kenya.
The so-called Project Hummingbird DAC facility will be capable of capturing and storing up to 1,000 tons of CO2 each year by using Cella’s carbon mineralization technology. In October 2024, the project will begin to store and capture CO2, and plans have been put in place to sell carbon credits certified by carbon removal platform Puro.earth.
The DAC facility will operate under Puro.earth’s ICROA-endorsed Standard for Geologically Stored Carbon and will apply strict monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) criteria. The facility – which is currently under development – will leverage the region’s geothermal renewable energy. The country is the eighth-largest producer of geothermal energy worldwide, with the energy source contributing approximately 40% of its grid power. The clean power surplus produced by the grid is said to be capable of running a total of 20 large carbon removal facilities without having a negative effect on the country’s energy requirements.
“Our mission is to position Kenya as a climate change vanguard by making Octavia Carbon a leading force in reversing climate change and ending the fossil fuel age,” said Martin Freimüller, founder & CEO, Octavia Carbon. “Through this first-of-its-kind facility and planned extensions, we aim to work alongside partners Cella Mineral Storage and Puro.earth to lead the charge on developing African climate tech innovation.”
“Our storage facility in Kenya is amongst the largest of its kind that permanently removes CO2 through mineralization in basalts for negative emissions,” added Corey Pattison, CEO, Cella. “We chose Kenya for its unique combination of geology and geothermal energy, which provides ideal conditions for DAC partners, and we’re thrilled to welcome Octavia, Kenya’s own DAC company, to our site.”
“We are pleased to be involved in this landmark development, helping ensure that the Kenyan-engineered CO2 removal industry is built with integrity and credibility from the start,” commented Antti Vihavainen, CEO of Puro.earth. “The voluntary carbon markets are gaining significant momentum globally, and we applaud Octavia Carbon pioneering the net zero transition through carbon removals in Africa and the Global South.”