Firm behind Europe’s first carbon capture project completes £3.5m funding round

C-Capture, the Leeds-based designer of chemical processes for carbon dioxide removal, has raised £3.5m in new equity funding in a round led by BP Ventures, Drax, and IP Group.

The company’s technology helps mitigate climate change by providing systems that remove carbon dioxide emissions from power stations and cement, steel and aluminium facilities.

C-Capture is currently conducting a demonstration project at Drax Power Station, which will remove carbon dioxide from emissions produced by generating electricity from sustainable biomass.

The project, which is the first of its kind in Europe, has the capacity to produce negative emissions, whereby carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored.

C-Capture will use the new funding to further develop the technology, support larger pilot projects in other industries, and increase marketing globally.

Tristan Fischer, chairman of C-Capture, said: “We’re delighted that Drax, IP Group and now BP have all seen that our unique technology has the potential to be applied at scale around the world as part of the global drive to tackle climate change. We’re all very excited about the pilot project with Drax, and also that this new funding will help to develop our technology for use across a range of industries.

“We are looking carefully at the broader market for our carbon capture technology, which includes not just power generation but also the production of cement, steel and aluminium, as well as biogas, across a range of territories including India and China.”

C-Capture was formed in 2009 as a spin-out from Leeds University with funding from IP Group and has raised over £2.2m from the UK government and £1.7m from IP Group so far to develop its technology.

Will Gardiner, CEO of Drax Group, said: “At Drax we are focused on enabling a zero-carbon, lower-cost energy future, and want to take advantage of the environmental and business opportunities created by a growing net zero carbon economy.

“The innovative technology C-Capture has developed and is piloting at Drax Power Station is putting the UK on the map when it comes to carbon capture and global efforts to tackle climate change. This investment gives us a long-term commercial agreement to work together with them.

“We’re confident that our bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot project will be successful, and if we scale it up, it could enable Drax to become the world’s first negative emissions power station. This significant milestone means the power we produce would help to reduce the carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere.”

David Eyton, BP’s group head of technology, added: “BP believes carbon capture, use and storage has a key role to play in reducing emissions, in line with global climate ambitions. C-Capture’s technology could reduce the cost of capturing carbon dioxide.

“Our investment in C-Capture supports our ambition to advance the energy transition, and we look forward to working with them to explore opportunities to trial their technology.”

Ben Murphy, cleantech investment manager at IP Group plc, said: “IP Group has been involved with the company from the outset and we’re delighted to see C-Capture winning the recognition we feel the technology merits. C-Capture’s technology is world-leading, with exceptional potential to mitigate climate change.

“That BP and Drax have chosen to invest in the business is further strong validation of C-Capture’s technology. IP Group is delighted to support the team with this fundraising and remains extremely excited about C-Capture’s prospects.”