Ucaneo opens Germany’s largest direct air capture plant in Berlin

Ucaneo inaugurated Germany’s largest direct air capture facility in Berlin-Marzahn, a plant designed to remove 150 metric tons of CO2 a year and supply high-purity carbon for storage and industry. The project marks Germany’s first verified DAC-to-geological-storage effort and a step toward scaling domestic carbon infrastructure.

Why it matters: - Ucaneo’s Berlin plant turns captured atmospheric carbon into a local industrial resource, which could support permanent storage and lower-carbon supply chains for fuels, chemicals, materials and biomanufacturing. - The project also gives Germany its first verified direct air capture and geological storage setup, an early test case for durable carbon removal at industrial scale. - Ucaneo says the facility is part of building new carbon infrastructure as economies try to reduce reliance on fossil carbon.

What happened: - Ucaneo inaugurated Germany’s largest direct air capture plant in Berlin-Marzahn on July 2, 2026. - The plant removes 150 metric tons of CO2 per year directly from ambient air. - The facility produces CO2 at more than 99.9% purity. - A portion of the captured CO2 will be permanently stored through geological sequestration. - Ucaneo becomes the first company in Germany and the fifth company worldwide to permanently store atmospheric CO2 captured through direct air capture. - Around 200 invited guests from politics, industry and climate innovation attended the opening in Berlin-Marzahn.

The details: - Ucaneo describes the plant as one of the largest electrochemical direct air capture facilities worldwide. - The facility is intended as a blueprint for future commercial-scale carbon infrastructure. - The plant can supply sustainable carbon feedstocks for aviation fuels, chemicals, materials and biomanufacturing. - The process is fully electrified and runs on electricity rather than thermal regeneration. - Ucaneo says the system can integrate with renewable power and operate alongside fluctuating electricity market conditions. - The captured carbon can either be stored for certified carbon removal or supplied to industry. - The Berlin-Marzahn site was deliberately placed in eastern Berlin as a contribution to Germany’s industrial future. - Ucaneo also opened the CO2 Store of the Future, an exhibition space that shows how captured carbon can be used in products and removal projects. - The exhibition is aimed at policymakers, industry leaders, investors and the public. - Ucaneo says the combined site is meant to strengthen industrial competitiveness, resilient supply chains and Europe’s re-industrialization. - The plant marks Ucaneo’s shift from pilot operations to industrial deployment. - A facility with about 10 times the capacity is already in development, with construction expected to begin in 2027.

Between the lines: - The project signals a push to treat carbon not only as an emissions problem, but as a traded industrial input that can be sourced from air instead of fossil reserves. - By pairing a working plant with a public exhibition, Ucaneo is trying to make a niche climate technology legible to policymakers and investors. - The emphasis on modular, electrified deployment suggests the company is positioning itself for expansion in markets with growing renewable power.

What’s next: - Ucaneo plans to start construction on a plant roughly ten times larger in 2027. - The company is positioning Berlin-Marzahn as the first step in a broader rollout of commercial carbon infrastructure in Germany and beyond. - Future use of captured CO2 will likely expand across permanent storage and industrial feedstock applications as the platform scales.

The bottom line: - Ucaneo has moved direct air capture in Germany from demonstration to industrial operation, with a plant designed to prove that carbon can be sourced from the air and managed as infrastructure.