Siemens and German climate technology company Ucaneo have partnered to scale electrochemical Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology from industrial pilot to commercial scale – with Siemens deploying the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio as Ucaneo's preferred automation and digitalization partner. Together, the companies are creating a standardized and globally replicable automation platform that will enable rapid deployment by Ucaneo and its licensed operators worldwide. By 2035, Ucaneo targets the annual capture of half a gigaton of CO₂ from the atmosphere, which is roughly equivalent to cancelling out the entire annual CO₂ emissions of Canada.
The partnership addresses a growing industrial challenge: sectors from aviation to chemicals increasingly require access to sustainably sourced CO₂ as a feedstock – and large-scale Direct Air Capture offers a scalable solution, replacing fossil-derived carbon with CO₂ captured directly from the atmosphere.
First-of-a-kind DAC plant
Ucaneo has developed an electrochemical DAC process, inspired by the human lung, that removes CO₂ directly from ambient air and delivers high-purity CO₂ at over 99.9 percent purity. The resulting CO₂ can be permanently stored to generate certified negative emissions or used as a feedstock for climate-neutral products including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), methanol and food and beverage applications. The fully electrified process integrates directly with renewable energy sources and responds flexibly to grid conditions and power market prices.
Ucaneo's first-of-a-kind industrial plant in Berlin (Germany), with a nameplate capacity of 150 metric tons of CO₂ per year, is set to become Germany's largest DAC facility upon commissioning in July 2026. The facility will be officially inaugured on July 2 in Berlin. Part of the captured CO₂ will be permanently stored in geological formations, making the facility Germany's first verified Direct Air Capture project combined with geological storage. This makes Ucaneo the first company in Germany – and one of few globally – to permanently store CO₂ captured through Direct Air Capture. A follow-on commercial plant with approximately ten times the capacity is already in the development stages starting construction next year.
Automation and digital technology
Under the partnership, Siemens provides comprehensive support across process automation, instrumentation and analytics, drive technology and digitalization. Siemens' process simulation software and controllers are already deployed at Ucaneo’s pilot plant, complemented by automation consulting services from Siemens.
For subsequent project phases, Siemens' advanced distributed control system Simatic PCS neo and additional simulation software are planned. These solutions will enable full process validation in a virtual environment before physical commissioning, thereby reducing technical risk during scale-up. The strategic objective is a standardized, modularly scalable automation template that can be replicated across future Ucaneo plants and those of licensed operators worldwide. This will help to accelerate global rollout while safeguarding capital efficiency at each deployment stage.
Growing demand for industrial CO₂
The need for CO₂ as an input is growing across multiple industrial sectors – from sustainable aviation fuel and methanol production to food and beverage applications. Regulatory requirements are accelerating that trend: under the ReFuelEU initiative, e-kerosene must account for 1.2 percent of all jet fuel supplied at EU airports by 2030, rising to 35 percent by 2050. The EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) is establishing a certification system for permanent carbon removal credits. For DAC operators, this establishes a second commercial pathway alongside direct CO₂ sales.
