- Progressive Energy, Mission Zero Technologies and Airhive have teamed up to build the UK’s first commercial direct air capture (DAC) facility in Teesside, capturing 60,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually by 2032.
- The project will connect to the Northern Endurance Partnership carbon capture and storage network and aims to reach a final investment decision in 2028, with operations starting by 2032.
- The facility would be Europe’s largest DAC project, but questions remain about the commercial viability of direct air capture; DAC plants globally currently capture only about 10,000 tonnes per year, and costs are high.
Three British clean‑tech firms have teamed up to build what could become Europe’s largest direct air capture plant, betting that pulling carbon dioxide straight from the atmosphere will be a cornerstone of the net‑zero economy.
Progressive Energy, Mission Zero Technologies and Airhive have formed UnionDAC, a joint venture aiming to capture 60,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year at a new facility in Teesside by 2032. The project marks the first commercial‑scale DAC effort in the UK and highlights the rapid evolution of carbon‑removal technologies.
UnionDAC intends to site the plant at the Wilton International industrial complex in Teesworks, south of Middlesbrough. The facility will plug into the Northern Endurance Partnership, a network that will transport and permanently store captured CO₂ beneath the North Sea. The consortium plans to make a final investment decision in 2028 and hopes to begin operations by 2032.
Mission Zero Technologies will supply modular electrochemical DAC units capable of capturing 30,000 tonnes per year. Its technology uses electric currents and chemical membranes to extract CO₂ from air at low temperatures, which the firm says makes it more energy‑efficient and easier to integrate with intermittent renewable power.
Airhive will provide complementary technology based on fluidised‑bed reactors and calcium‑based sorbents, capturing and releasing CO₂ through repeated heating and cooling cycles. Progressive Energy, best known for originating the HyNet hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) cluster, will lead project development and integration.
UnionDAC says its modular design will allow it to scale up quickly and export units to other sites. The Teesside plant will produce pure CO₂ for geological storage, not for sale into industrial markets.
The project is being progressed through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s East Coast cluster expansion process, which will allocate 1-2 million tonnes of annual CO₂ transport and storage capacity to new projects.
DAC potential
If realised, the plant would eclipse Climeworks’ Mammoth facility in Iceland, currently the world’s largest DAC plant with a capacity of 36,000 tonnes per year.
UnionDAC’s 60,000‑tonne design also positions it ahead of the 40,000‑tonne Silver Birch project proposed by Climeworks for the UK. Proponents argue that Britain’s geology and planned CO₂ transport infrastructure make it an ideal hub for DAC, complementing industrial CCS clusters. The Teesside network is expected to eventually store up to 4 million tonnes of CO₂ annually.
However, direct air capture faces significant challenges. DAC technology is still in its infancy: fewer than 20 plants operate globally, capturing roughly 10,000 tonnes in total. Costs remain high, with estimates ranging from £300 to £800 per tonne of CO₂ removed.
Monitoring and verification standards are nascent, and the voluntary carbon market – where removal credits are sold – is volatile. Climeworks has attracted more than $800 million in investment but has struggled to meet removal targets and cut 20% of its workforce last year. That has fuelled scepticism about the commercial viability of DAC.
UnionDAC’s backers argue that their combination of technologies and connection to a mature storage network will drive down costs and attract customers. They see DAC as essential for sectors where emissions are hard to eliminate, such as aviation and agriculture, and for achieving net‑negative emissions.
Rory Brown, CEO of Airhive, told Bloomberg (via IndexBox) that the UK has all the ingredients to become a leader in carbon removals, citing transport infrastructure and favourable geology. Mission Zero emphasised that the project provides a “landmark blueprint for scaling British innovation” and will help meet national carbon budgets.
