CarbonFree, an established carbon capture and utilization firm, is raising capital to build a $150m capture and utilization plant at U.S. Steel’s Gary Works Blast Furnaces.
The San Antonio-based firm already generates revenues from existing projects, and will use cash on hand as well as additional private investments to fund construction of the project, a spokesperson for the company said via email.
“We are pursuing additional equity investments in CarbonFree, rather than project-specific financing,” the spokesperson said. “The process is ongoing.”
The company is working with a financial advisor on the capital raise, but the spokesperson declined to name the firm.
CarbonFree and U.S. Steel announced this week that they have finalized a definitive agreement to use CarbonFree’s SkyCycle technology to capture and mineralize up to 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Construction is expected to begin as soon as this summer with operations expected by 2026.
The technology captures carbon emissions and converts them into a carbon-neutral calcium carbonate, used to make paper, plastics, and other products.
CarbonFree CEO Martin Keighley said in previous interviews that the objective of the CCU operation is that “it can be zero capital and zero OpEx for the emitter, because, in its own right, it is a profitable operation.”
The spokesperson estimated the addressable market for the calcium carbonate it produces to be $40bn, and added that CarbonFree was actively seeking new partners in that market.
