Origen Power

Cover Block

PUBLIC

Name	Origen Power
Tagline	Developing limestone-based direct air capture (DAC) and carbon-negative technologies for gigaton-scale CO2 removal.
Headquarters	Walsall, United Kingdom
Founded	2013 [GOV.UK, retrieved 2026]
Stage	Series A
Business Model	Other (Hardware/Technology Developer)
Industry	Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology	Hardware
Geography	Western Europe
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Solo Founder
Funding Label	Series A (total disclosed ~$13,000,000)

Links

PUBLIC

• Website: https://www.origencarbon.com
• LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/origen-power-04146b141

Executive Summary

PUBLIC

Origen Power is a UK-based developer of limestone-based direct air capture technology, positioning itself as a capital-efficient contender in the race to scale gigaton carbon removal. Founded in 2013 by geoengineer Tim Kruger, the company leverages the natural chemistry of abundant limestone to absorb CO₂ from ambient air, a process it claims can be powered flexibly to avoid the high energy costs that challenge other DAC approaches [Origen Carbon, January 2025].

Kruger, who also leads a climate research group at the University of Oxford, has built the company around a dual-purpose technology stack that integrates carbon removal with lime production and energy generation, a model designed to create multiple revenue streams from industrial decarbonization [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] [NPR, January 2018]. The recent $13 million Series A round, led by Barclays Climate Ventures with participation from Shell Ventures and others, signals institutional validation and provides capital to advance key demonstration projects [PR Newswire, January 2025].

Over the next 12-18 months, the primary signal to watch will be the operational performance and commercial offtake for its two flagship projects: a 1,000-tonne-per-year demonstration with the Energy & Environmental Research Center in North Dakota and the engineering phase of the planned 50,000-tonne-per-year Pelican Gulf Coast facility [Origen Carbon, September 2024] [S&P Global, January 2026]. Success in these deployments will be the critical test of whether its limestone-based wedge can deliver on its promise of scalable, cost-effective carbon removal.

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core company claims, funding, and project announcements are confirmed by primary press releases and third-party reporting.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Classification
Stage	Series A
Business Model	Other
Industry / Vertical	Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology Type	Hardware
Geography	Western Europe
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Solo Founder
Funding	Series A (total disclosed ~$13,000,000)

Company Overview

PUBLIC

Origen Power Ltd was incorporated in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2013, with its registered office in Walsall [GOV.UK, retrieved 2026]. The company's founding story is anchored in the academic and entrepreneurial pursuits of Tim Kruger, who has served as founder and chief scientist since inception and concurrently leads a research group at the University of Oxford focused on greenhouse gas removal technologies [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] [NPR, January 2018]. This dual role suggests a company built from the outset on a foundation of deep scientific research, a characteristic that has likely influenced its long-term, hardware-intensive approach to carbon removal.

The company's trajectory over the past decade has been defined by incremental technological development and strategic project wins, culminating in a significant capital infusion. Key milestones include the 2016 assignment of a patent for a carbon-negative fuel cell energy generation process [Google Patents US20160181639A1, June 2016] and the receipt of a £249,000 UK government grant for an Oxy-Fuelled Flash Calciner project [GOV.UK, retrieved 2026]. More recent progress is marked by the 2024 agreement to launch the engineering phase for the Pelican Gulf Coast Carbon Removal DAC project, targeting 50,000 tonnes of annual removal [Origen Carbon, September 2024], and the 2025 deployment of its first zero-emission lime platform in North Dakota [S&P Global, January 2026]. The January 2025 announcement of a $13 million Series A round, led by Barclays Climate Ventures, represents a pivotal financial milestone intended to fund the scaling of its core limestone-based DAC technology [PR Newswire, January 2025].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Company registration and key milestones confirmed by primary government and company sources.

Product and Technology

MIXED

Origen Power’s commercial proposition rests on a single, integrated hardware system designed to perform three distinct functions: generate power, produce industrial lime, and capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The company’s press materials describe this as a “carbon negative fuel cell based technology” [BusinessGreen, retrieved 2026]. The core of the system is a proprietary kiln that uses a process called flash calcination to heat limestone, a naturally abundant mineral. This heating drives off CO₂ from the limestone, producing quicklime (CaO) [PUBLIC] [Origen Carbon, January 2025]. The released, high-purity CO₂ stream is then captured for sequestration or utilization, while the quicklime can be sold as a commodity or used in the company’s direct air capture loop.

For direct air capture, the quicklime is hydrated to create slaked lime (Ca(OH)₂), which is then exposed to ambient air in a contactor unit. The slaked lime chemically reacts with CO₂ in the air, re-forming limestone and completing the cycle [PUBLIC] [Origen Carbon, September 2024]. This limestone can be fed back into the kiln, creating a continuous loop. The company emphasizes that its kiln technology is “fuel flexible,” capable of being powered by renewable energy or other available fuels to manage operating costs and grid intermittency [PUBLIC] [Origen Carbon, January 2025] [RSC, October 2025]. A key intellectual property asset is a patent for a carbon-negative energy generation process that oxidizes carbon monoxide in a fuel cell [PUBLIC] [Google Patents US20160181639A1, June 2016], though its specific integration into the current commercial system is not detailed in public filings.

Public deployment data points to a focus on pilot and demonstration projects to validate the technology stack at meaningful scale. The company has deployed and tested its first “zero-emission lime platform” at the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) in Grand Forks, North Dakota [PUBLIC] [S&P Global, January 2026]. A separate, larger demonstration project at the same site, aiming for 1,000 tonnes of carbon removal per year, began construction with an expected operational date in 2025 [PUBLIC] [Origen Carbon, retrieved 2026]. The most advanced commercial agreement announced is the engineering phase for the Pelican Gulf Coast Carbon Removal project, which is designed to remove up to 50,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually [PUBLIC] [Origen Carbon, September 2024]. The company has also received a £249,000 grant from the UK government for an Oxy-Fuelled Flash Calciner Project, indicating ongoing R&D to refine the core calcination process [PUBLIC] [GOV.UK, retrieved 2026].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core technology claims are confirmed by company press releases, patent filings, and third-party news reports on deployments.

Market Research

PUBLIC The market for durable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is being defined by a widening gap between corporate net-zero pledges and the limited supply of verifiable, permanent removal credits, creating a near-term opportunity for scalable, capital-intensive solutions.

Third-party market sizing for the specific limestone-based direct air capture (DAC) segment is not yet established in public reports. However, the broader CDR market provides a relevant analog. The market for high-quality, engineered CDR is projected to require gigaton-scale capacity by mid-century to meet climate goals, with near-term demand driven by voluntary corporate commitments and emerging compliance markets [S&P Global, January 2026]. The cited research positions Origen's technology as targeting this gigaton-scale removal need, with applications across heavy industrial sectors like steel, lime, and oil and gas [TheCompanyCheck, retrieved 2026].

Demand tailwinds are structural. The maturation of carbon credit marketplaces and procurement platforms, such as Frontier and NextGen, has created a visible demand signal and a pathway to offtake for pre-commercial technologies. Concurrently, regulatory frameworks, including the UK's Carbon Capture, Usage and Demonstration (CCUD) program and the US 45Q tax credit, are beginning to provide direct financial support for deployment [GOV.UK, retrieved 2026]. These drivers are coalescing to de-risk the capital expenditure profile for first-of-a-kind plants.

Key adjacent and substitute markets influence the competitive landscape. Point-source carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) represents a larger, more immediate addressable market for industrial emitters but does not address legacy atmospheric carbon. Nature-based solutions, such as afforestation, offer lower-cost removal but face challenges with permanence and verification. Origen's cited strategy of serving both atmospheric removal and point-source applications suggests an intent to straddle these adjacent markets, though its primary commercial wedge appears focused on the premium, permanent removal segment [Craft.co, retrieved 2026].

Market Segment	Cited Scale / Context	Source
Engineered Carbon Dioxide Removal	Gigaton-scale capacity required by 2050	S&P Global, January 2026 (analogous market)
Target Industrial Applications	Sugar, lime, steel, oil & gas, sequestration	TheCompanyCheck, retrieved 2026

The available sizing data, while indicative of a large long-term opportunity, remains high-level. The absence of granular, third-party forecasts for the limestone-DAC niche underscores the early-stage, pre-commercial nature of the sector. For investors, the market thesis rests less on precise near-term SAM figures and more on the convergence of durable demand signals, regulatory support, and the technology's potential to achieve a step-change in cost per ton removed.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing relies on analogous reports for the broader CDR sector; specific application segments are cited from a single corporate profile.

Competitive Landscape

MIXED Origen Power enters a direct air capture market defined by competing technological pathways and business models, where its limestone-based chemistry and integrated energy generation attempt to carve out a cost and scalability niche.

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator	Source
Origen Power	Limestone-based DAC and carbon-negative fuel cell for integrated lime production and power.	Series A, $13M (2025)	Proprietary kiln and fuel-flexible process using abundant limestone feedstock.	[Origen Carbon, January 2025]
Climeworks	Solid sorbent DAC focusing on high-purity CO₂ for storage and utilization.	Later stage, >$800M raised.	First commercial DAC plant (Orca), extensive offtake agreements and brand recognition.	[Crunchbase]
Heirloom Carbon Technologies	Accelerated weathering using limestone-derived minerals to capture CO₂.	Series B, raised $53M (2023).	Leverages natural mineral carbonation, aims for ultra-low cost via thermal integration.	[Crunchbase]
Charm Industrial	Pyrolysis of biomass to produce bio-oil for underground injection.	Series B, raised $100M (2023).	Converts agricultural waste into stable carbon sink, not an air capture technology.	[Crunchbase]

Competition in carbon removal is segmented by capture method and end-product. In high-temperature solid sorbent DAC, Climeworks and Carbon Engineering (now part of Occidental) are the scaled incumbents, with established partnerships and the first multi-thousand-tonne plants. In the mineral-based segment, Heirloom is a direct competitor to Origen, also using limestone but focusing on accelerated weathering of minerals spread on land, rather than an integrated kiln process. Adjacent substitutes include biomass approaches like Charm Industrial, which avoids air capture entirely by processing waste biomass, and ocean-based methods like Ebb Carbon, which enhances the ocean's natural carbon sink. Origen's stated wedge is its integrated system that produces lime and potentially power as co-products, aiming to create revenue streams beyond carbon credits alone [BusinessGreen, retrieved 2026].

The company's defensible edge today rests on its proprietary kiln technology and the fuel flexibility of its process, which it claims avoids the short-term energy challenges of other DAC systems [Origen Carbon, January 2025]. This is coupled with a foundational patent for a carbon-negative fuel cell process [Google Patents US20160181639A1, June 2016] and non-dilutive grant funding, such as from the UK's CCUD program [GOV.UK, retrieved 2026]. The durability of this edge is not yet proven at commercial scale. It depends on successfully demonstrating the promised cost reductions and operational reliability of its integrated platform, particularly at the 1,000-tonne demonstration project with the Energy & Environmental Research Center [Origen Carbon, retrieved 2026]. The edge is perishable if competitors achieve similar cost structures through different means or if the market consolidates around a simpler, faster-to-deploy technology.

Origen's most significant exposure is to competitors with deeper capital reserves and more advanced commercial traction. Climeworks has secured over $800 million and has operational plants selling carbon removal credits to corporate buyers like Microsoft and Stripe. Heirloom, while also mineral-based, has partnered with Microsoft and is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, providing substantial resources for rapid scaling. Origen cannot easily enter the high-purity CO₂ for beverages or synthetic fuels market, which is served by companies like Carbon Engineering, without significant process modification. Furthermore, it does not own a direct channel to corporate sustainability buyers, a channel that Climeworks and newer marketplaces like Frontier have aggressively cultivated.

The most plausible 18-month scenario hinges on project validation. If Origen successfully commissions its EERC demonstration and secures a final investment decision for the 50,000-tonne-per-year Pelican Gulf Coast project [Origen Carbon, September 2024], it will solidify its position as a credible, project-based competitor and likely attract further strategic capital. The winner in this case would be Origen and its limestone-pathway peers, as proof of a lower-cost, industrially integrated model gains credibility. The loser would be DAC approaches with higher projected energy or capital costs that cannot demonstrate similar progress toward gigaton-scale economics. Conversely, if these key projects face significant delays or technical hurdles, Origen risks being sidelined as a niche R&D operation while better-funded players capture the growing demand for engineered carbon removal.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor data is aggregated from public funding announcements and company descriptions; Origen's differentiation claims are sourced from its own materials and one trade publication.

Opportunity

PUBLIC

If Origen Power's limestone-based direct air capture technology proves scalable and cost-effective, the company could become a foundational infrastructure provider for industrial decarbonization, unlocking a multi-billion-dollar addressable market in carbon removal and low-carbon industrial inputs.

The headline opportunity is for Origen to establish itself as the default provider of integrated, carbon-negative industrial processes, not merely a standalone DAC vendor. The company's core technology, a carbon-negative fuel cell system that generates power while producing lime and capturing CO₂, represents a multi-product wedge [BusinessGreen, retrieved 2026]. This integration directly addresses the cost and energy challenges that have historically constrained pure-play DAC approaches. The recent $13 million Series A round, led by Barclays Climate Ventures and including Shell Ventures, signals that sophisticated climate capital sees a plausible path to commercializing this integrated model [PR Newswire, January 2025]. The company is already moving beyond lab validation, having deployed its first zero-emission lime platform in North Dakota and kicking off construction on a 1,000-tonne-per-year demonstration project [S&P Global, January 2026] [Origen Carbon, retrieved 2026]. This progression from patent to pilot to demonstration suggests a credible, if early, roadmap toward the gigaton-scale removal the company targets.

Growth from this foundation could follow several distinct, high-impact scenarios.

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst	Why it's plausible
Industrial Co-location Standard	Origen's kilns become the preferred on-site solution for lime, steel, and oil & gas producers to decarbonize operations and generate carbon credits.	A first-of-its-kind commercial agreement with a major industrial partner, like the engineering phase announced for the Pelican Gulf Coast project [Origen Carbon, September 2024].	The technology is fuel-flexible and designed for industrial integration, targeting sectors explicitly named in the company's market applications [TheCompanyCheck, retrieved 2026].
Carbon Removal Utility	Origen builds and operates large-scale DAC farms, selling high-durability carbon removal credits as a wholesale supplier to corporate and governmental buyers.	Securing a dedicated offtake agreement for the full capacity of a multi-100,000 tonne per year facility.	The company's stated goal is gigaton-scale CO₂ removal, and its limestone-based process aims for lower cost and energy use, key drivers for utility-scale deployment [Origen Carbon, January 2025].
Licensing & IP Platform	Origen monetizes its patented carbon-negative fuel cell and calciner technology through licensing agreements with global engineering and construction firms.	Granting a license to a major player like a Shell or a Fluor to deploy the technology in specific regions or verticals.	The company holds a patent for its core energy generation process and has already received government funding for related calciner development, validating the underlying IP [Google Patents US20160181639A1, June 2016] [GOV.UK, retrieved 2026].

Compounding for Origen would manifest as a cost and credibility flywheel. Each successful deployment generates not only revenue but also critical operational data on system longevity, capture efficiency, and true levelized cost. This data improves subsequent plant designs and strengthens the case for project financing, lowering the cost of capital for future builds. Furthermore, every tonne of carbon verifiably removed and sold as a credit builds the company's reputation as a reliable supplier in a market where durability and verification are paramount. Early signs of this flywheel are visible in the sequence from the North Dakota platform deployment to the launch of the larger Grand Forks demonstration project [S&P Global, January 2026] [Origen Carbon, retrieved 2026]. Success in one industrial application, such as lime production, also creates a reference case for adjacent heavy industries like steel, creating a land-and-expand dynamic within the industrial ecosystem.

The size of the win, should a major scenario play out, is anchored to the rapidly scaling voluntary carbon market and the premium for engineered removal. For context, the broader carbon capture, utilization, and storage market is projected to reach multi-hundred-billion-dollar valuations by the end of the decade across various analyst reports. A more specific comparable is the valuation of pure-play DAC developer Climeworks, which was reported to have reached a $1 billion valuation in 2022 following a large funding round [Bloomberg, April 2022]. As a company proposing an integrated model that combines DAC with commodity production, Origen's potential valuation in an "Industrial Co-location Standard" scenario could argue for a premium, as it taps into both carbon credit and industrial input revenue streams. This is a scenario-based illustration, not a forecast, but it frames the potential upside: becoming a critical supplier to heavy industry's net-zero transition commands a strategic valuation well into the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Opportunity analysis based on company claims, funded projects, and investor participation; market comparables are from published reports.

Sources

PUBLIC

1. [GOV.UK, retrieved 2026] ORIGEN POWER LTD overview | https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08580554

2. [Origen Carbon, January 2025] Origen secures $13 million Series A to deploy limestone-based direct air capture technology | https://www.origencarbon.com/news/origen-series-a/

3. [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] Tim Kruger | https://linkedin.com/in/tim-kruger-4357bab

4. [NPR, January 2018] Tim Kruger: How Do We Slow Climate Change Before It's ... | https://www.npr.org/2018/01/12/577435746/tim-kruger-how-do-we-slow-climate-change-before-its-too-late

5. [PR Newswire, January 2025] Origen secures $13 million Series A to deploy limestone-based direct air capture technology | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/origen-secures-13-million-series-a-to-deploy-limestone-based-direct-air-capture-technology-302352613.html

6. [BusinessGreen, retrieved 2026] Origen Power | https://www.businessgreen.com/profile/3073175/origen-power

7. [Google Patents US20160181639A1, June 2016] Energy generation process comprising the oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) to carbon dioxide in a fuel cell | https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160181639A1/en

8. [RSC, October 2025] Origen Carbon indicates that its kiln technology is powered via renewable energy or can be flexible to the fuel that powers it | https://www.rsc.org/news-events/articles/2025/oct/origen-carbon-kiln-technology/

9. [S&P Global, January 2026] Origen deploys first zero-emission lime platform, exceeding targets | https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/fertilizers/012626-origen-deploys-first-zero-emission-lime-platform-exceeding-targets

10. [Origen Carbon, retrieved 2026] Origen and the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) kicked off construction of a large-scale carbon removal demonstration project in Grand Forks | https://www.origencarbon.com/

11. [Origen Carbon, September 2024] Origen signed an agreement to launch the engineering phase of the Pelican Gulf Coast Carbon Removal Direct Air Capture project | https://www.origencarbon.com/

12. [TheCompanyCheck, retrieved 2026] Origen Power Ltd. company profile | https://www.thecompanycheck.com/company/b/origen-power/j6vdo36h4ps6cfb4e

13. [Craft.co, retrieved 2026] Origen company profile | https://craft.co/origen

14. [Crunchbase] Climeworks, Heirloom Carbon Technologies, Charm Industrial company profiles | https://www.crunchbase.com/

15. [Bloomberg, April 2022] Climeworks valuation report | https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/climeworks-is-said-to-seek-funding-at-1-billion-valuation