Zephyr signs agreement with Carbon Centric on carbon removal with permanent storage

Zephyr AS has signed a four year agreement with Carbon Centric AS for the purchase of carbon removal certificates (CDR). The agreement adress the company’s estimated Scope 1 emissions, both going forward and retroactively, while also helping build the market for durable climate action.

From the left: Carbon Centric, CEO Fredrik Häger, Zephyr, CEO Olav Rommetveit.

Zephyr has calculated that it needs 10 tons of carbon removal annually to neutralize direct residual emissions after reduction and avoidance measures. Through this agreement, the company is taking a concrete and responsible step to address its own footprint, while also contributing to scale permanent carbon removal solutions.

Carbon Centric has already built and operates a full scale carbon capture facility in Rakkestad, where the CO2 is used in commercial applications through carbon capture and utilization (CCU). The company is now working on its next project, which will be its first facility for the capture and permanent storage of CO2 (CCS). Certificates from this project have already been purchased by companies including Climeworks, KLP and DNV, and they are now joined by renewable energy developer Zephyr.

This is a highly credible and forward looking approach. Zephyr is taking responsibility for its own footprint in a concrete and credible way, while also helping move a new industry forward, says Kenneth Juul, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Carbon Centric.

Carbon capture and storage depends on trust to scale, and projects take time to develop. Early customers like Zephyr are therefore important, both in creating demand and in building future capacity in the market, says Juul.

Today, the market for carbon removal certificates is dominated by large international companies buying hundreds of thousands of credits per agreement, but through this agreement Carbon Centric and Zephyr show that smaller players can also play a key role and help enable climate positive projects.

For Zephyr, the agreement forms part of the company’s broader work for responsible and climate focus. This is an important step toward our ambition of climate neutral operations. We want to take responsibility for our own emissions while also supporting the development of solutions the world needs more of, says Olav Rommetveit, Chief Executive Officer of Zephyr.

The agreement shows how companies with clear ambitions in renewable energy can also take an active role in the carbon removal market. For Carbon Centric, this is further evidence that the market is maturing, and that more types of businesses see the value of combining emissions reductions with responsibility for residual emissions.

Carbon Centric AS	Zephyr AS
Carbon Centric develops, builds and operates carbon capture facilities in partnership with existing industrial companies. The company already has one facility in operation in Rakkestad and is now developing its first project for permanent carbon removal through capture and storage.	Zephyr is a Norwegian renewable energy developer active in wind power, solar power and battery storage. The company has developed and commissioned significant wind power capacity in Norway and has a large project portfolio under development.