The Orca carbon capture plant is a facility that uses direct air capture to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The name "Orca" comes from the Icelandic word "orka", which means "energy". It was constructed by Climeworks and is joint work with Carbfix, an academic-industrial partnership that has developed a novel approach to capture . The plant uses dozens of large fans to pull in air and pass it through a filter. The filter is then released of the it contains through heat. The extracted is later mixed with water and pushed into the ground, using a technology from Carbfix.
The plant started sequestering carbon dioxide in 2021. It is said to have cost between $10âÂÂ15 million to build. It is located in Iceland and is the largest facility of its kind on earth. It is located about 50 kilometers outside ReykjavÃÂk next to the Hellisheiði Power Station, which is run by ReykjavÃÂk Energy. It was inaugurated on 8 September 2021 in presence of KatrÃÂn Jakobsdóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland.
Climeworks claims that the plant can capture 4000 tons of per year. This equates roughly to the emissions from about 870 cars. A May 2025 report said the plants has so far only captured a small portion of that amount, not even enough to cover emissions produced to generate the electricity used by the plant.
It counts Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the reinsurance company Swiss Re as current customers.