The agreement with Microsoft marks one of the first long term multi-year offtakes signed for a Waste to Energy carbon capture storage retrofit, demonstrating the commercial viability of such a decarbonization pathway for the Waste to Energy industry. Installing the carbon capture technology will also allow the facility to expand its district heating capacity, supplying heat to an additional 10,000 or more homes.
The offtake, for 2.95 million tonnes, is for up to full volumes of carbon removals generated per year starting from 2029. The Carbon Removal Units (CRUs) represent the biogenic portion of CO2 (such portion determined through the well-established radiocarbon method) captured and stored, net of process emissions. The sale of CRUs is a key enabler for Gaia to capture and store up to 500,000 tonnes of biogenic and fossil CO2 a year. Given that Denmark is regulated by the EU Waste Framework Directive, the CO2 captured and stored represents unavoidable fraction of waste after all aspects of the waste mitigation hierarchy has been met.
Nikos Samaritis, Managing Director, CI ETF I said: “We are proud to work alongside Microsoft for the sale and purchase of permanent carbon removals. This agreement, through Gaia, marks the first agreement between CIP, through CI ETF I, and Microsoft and we are optimistic it represents the start of a long-term relationship between the parties. The agreement is also significant for CIP as it represents the first offtake transaction by CIP for environmental attributes (e.g CRU), signaling CIP’s growing role in the development of new environmental products and technologies.”
Steen Neuchs Vedel, CEO, Vestforbrænding: “The offtake agreement with Microsoft is a defining milestone for the Gaia project. It not only validates the technical and commercial maturity that Vestforbrænding has worked hard to establish but also reflects how this maturity has been further strengthened through CIP’s entry into the project. It affirms the strength of our partnership with CIP and demonstrates why we chose to join forces—combining our operational expertise with their ability to scale and deliver complex infrastructure. Together, CIP, Microsoft and Vestforbrænding are showing a way forward for carbon capture from waste-to-energy to play a central role in Europe’s decarbonization journey.”
“Gaia’s approach of retrofitting waste-to-energy facilities—in combination with the enforcement of the EU Waste Framework Directive—helps unlock more carbon-free energy while ensuring waste prevention and recycling remain top priorities,” said Brian Marrs, Senior Director of Energy & Carbon Removal at Microsoft. “We’re pleased to see experienced developers like Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, through its Energy Transition Fund entering the carbon removal market and look forward to ongoing collaboration.”
About Gaia’s Progress
Vestforbrænding has been actively working to integrate carbon capture and storage technology into its long-standing waste-to-energy operations. Vestforbrænding’s CCS-project was previously runner up in the Danish Energy Agency’s first tender for CCS subsidy in 2023. Since that time, the project furthered its operational and commercial maturity, including the establishment of the joint venture with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the signing of the long-term flue gas agreement between the parties and securing of almost all necessary permits (e.g EIA). This long term offtake agreement with Microsoft comes on top of another major milestone, where Gaia was prequalified as one of the candidates for the Danish CCS Tender. Building on this, Gaia intends to bid into the Danish CCS Tender for state aid this December.