Hardware Podcasts

DAC’s bumpy road to commercial scale

Catalyst · 3 Oct 2024 · 40m

What this episode covers

Andreas Aepli, CFO of Climeworks, discusses the operational and financial challenges of scaling direct-air capture (DAC) technology, drawing on lessons from their Orca and Mammoth plants. He details specific technical hurdles like supply chain quality fluctuations, extreme weather impacts, and CO2 purity requirements that delayed reaching full capacity. Aepli also explains Climeworks' strategy of raising large equity rounds to de-risk technology before transitioning to project finance, and outlines the evolving buyer landscape dominated by Microsoft and the need for long-term, indexed contracts to ensure bankability.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Climeworks, Microsoft, JP Morgan, UBS, EnergyHub
Products
Orca, Mammoth

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