July 6, 2025

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners – through its Energy Transition Fund (“CI ETF I”) – and Vestforbrænding have, together, through their joint venture Gaia ProjectCo P/S (“Gaia”), entered into a long-term agreement with Microsoft for the permanent removal of CO 2 .

The agreement with Microsoft is one of the first multi-year agreements signed for a waste-to-energy plant’s CO2 capture and storage. It demonstrates the commercial viability of such decarbonization for the waste sector. The CO2 capture plant’s production of surplus heat will also be integrated into Vestforbrænding’s district heating network and provide heat to an additional 10,000 households.

The agreement covers up to 2.95 million tonnes of CO2 removal from 2029. The so-called “Carbon Removal Units” (CRUs) represent the biogenic part of CO2 that is captured and stored – calculated via the recognized “radio carbon method” – minus process emissions. The sale of CRUs is crucial for Gaia to capture and store up to 500,000 tonnes of biogenic and fossil CO2 per year. As Denmark is regulated by the EU Waste Framework Directive, the captured and stored CO2 represents the unavoidable fraction of waste after all aspects of the waste hierarchy have been fulfilled.

Nikos Samaritis, Managing Director, CI ETF I said: "We are proud to work with Microsoft on the purchase and sale of permanent carbon removal. This agreement, through Gaia, marks the first agreement between CIP, through CI ETF I, and Microsoft, and we are optimistic that it represents the start of a long-term relationship between the parties. The agreement is also significant for CIP as it represents the first offtake transaction by CIP for environmental attributes (e.g. CRU), signaling CIP's growing role in the development of new environmental products and technologies."

Steen Neuchs Vedel, CEO, Vestforbrænding: "The agreement with Microsoft is a defining milestone for the Gaia project. It not only confirms the technical and commercial maturity that Vestforbrænding has worked hard to establish, but also reflects how this maturity has been further strengthened through CIP's entry into the project. It confirms the strength of our partnership with CIP and demonstrates why we chose to join forces - by combining our operational expertise with their ability to scale and deliver complex infrastructure. Together, CIP, Microsoft and Vestforbrænding show a way forward for CO2 capture in the waste sector to play a central role in Europe's journey towards decarbonisation."

“Gaia’s approach to retrofitting waste to energy facilities – combined with the enforcement of the EU Waste Framework Directive – helps unlock more carbon-free energy, while ensuring waste prevention and recycling remain top priorities,” said Brian Marrs, Senior Director of Energy & Carbon Removal at Microsoft. “We are excited to see experienced developers like Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, through their Energy Transition Fund, enter the carbon removal market and look forward to continued collaboration.”
About Gaia's progress

Vestforbrænding has been actively working to integrate CO2 capture into its long-standing waste-to-energy plant. Vestforbrænding’s CCS project was among the finalists in the Danish Energy Agency’s first CCS tender in 2023. Since then, the project has further developed its operational and commercial maturity, including the establishment of a joint venture with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the signing of the long-term flue gas agreement between the parties and the securing of almost all necessary permits (e.g. EIA permit). This long-term agreement with Microsoft comes on top of another major milestone; Gaia was prequalified as one of the candidates for the second round of the state’s CCS tender. Gaia intends to bid in the Danish CCS tender for state support in December.