How Icelandic Carbon Capture Gained World’s First AAA Rating
An installation in Iceland is the first in the world to gain the coveted AAA rating for direct air capture with carbon storage.
The rating for the Climeworks Project Orca means it is assessed to be the most likely to remove and store one tonne of CO2.
Spencer Meyer, Chief Ratings Officer at BeZero Carbon, said: “Achieving an AAA rating is a tremendously high bar to clear and we’ve been deliberately cautious in issuing any until now.
“That’s why it’s hugely significant to be announcing our first in what is an indicator of genuine quality in the market.”
What makes this significant?
Chatu Abeysinghe, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Climeworks, makes it clear how important the milestone is.
He said: “Ratings by independent agencies such as BeZero Carbon are crucial to building confidence in the carbon market. This is an important milestone for Direct Air Capture and Climeworks.”
BeZero’s Carbon Ratings Director Kirti Ramesh said: “We're excited to see highest quality credits come in from newer methodologies as the market evolves and also, to expand our ratings of engineered carbon removal projects by issuing the first carbon rating for Direct Air Capture activities.”
A BeZero press release added that the rating is “an indicator of genuine quality for the carbon market”.
It said: “The engineered carbon removal sector is quickly becoming recognised as critical to reaching net zero emissions. Ratings such as this will spur investment so Direct Air Capture can scale and deliver real impact for the planet and people.”
About Project Orca
Project Orca is based in Hellisheiði, Iceland.
It is a direct air capture with carbon capture and storage (DACCS) project which captures CO2 from ambient air (atmospheric CO2) and stores it durably in a geological formation.
According to the BeZero Carbon website, it includes the “capture phase, the transportation phase and the storage phase.
“The project captures and removes CO2 in a cyclic adsorption and desorption process using modular DAC units, known as CO2 collector containers.”
After it is captured, the CO2 is pumped out of the collector containers and prepared for storage below the surface in basalt rocks via mineralisation.
The entire process is powered by geothermal energy.
The project has been operational since 2021 and aims for an annual removal of 2,600 tonnes of CO2.
DACCS is a growing part of the engineered carbon removal market and is projected to contribute up to 1 billion tCO2 to net zero targets.
Climeworks explains more
Climeworks goes into more detail about Project Orca, which was launched on September 8, 2021.
It says it is “the world’s first and largest direct air capture and storage plant, making carbon dioxide removal on large-scale a reality”.
The company adds: “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 to run the process is supplied by the Hellisheiði Geothermal Power Plant.
Climeworks says: “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.”
How Orca got an AAA
BeZero Carbon explains that, as the sub-sector scales, more projects will issue credits, adding: “Carbon credit ratings further integrity in the market by providing transparent and independent project-level risk assessments.”
Driving factors informing the assessment of Orca include:
Additionality
“Projects have a higher likelihood of additionality when carbon finance plays a meaningful role in overall project financing. In DACCS projects, the sole commodity – CO2 – is not sold but stored durably in geological formations. Therefore, carbon finance is the sole revenue stream, which feeds into our overall assessment of additionality.”
Over-crediting and leakage
“In assessing our carbon accounting risk factors, we evaluate the project’s applied DACCS methodology and project-specific information. For over-crediting, the variables used and assumptions made need to address all potential lifecycle emissions against the net carbon removal tonnes issued. To assess leakage risk, potential emissions from increased sorbent/solvent, water and energy consumption are taken into account.”
Non-permanence
“DACCS has high durability, meaning that the captured CO2 will likely remain stored for millennia. We evaluate this durability against project-specific reversal risks over the commitment period. Evaluating the project’s chosen conditions as well as its monitoring and verification plan over this commitment period allows us to assess overall non-permanence risk.”
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