Microsoft just signed a 15-year offtake agreement for 626,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits from a BECCS project in Saskatchewan. The deal is with Svante’s subsidiary Carbon Alpha and the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) — making this one of the largest Indigenous-partnered CDR deals on record.

The Numbers

The North Star project will capture up to 90,000 tonnes of biogenic CO₂ per year at full capacity. The facility sits alongside the MLTC Bioenergy Centre, which generates renewable power from waste biomass sourced from local forestry operations. Captured CO₂ gets transported and permanently stored in geological formations underground.

That’s a fully integrated chain: waste biomass in, renewable energy plus permanent carbon storage out.

Why This Matters

This deal is a textbook example of what makes BECCS credible when done right:

Feedstock matters. The project uses genuine waste biomass from forestry operations — not purpose-grown crops competing with food production. That’s the difference between BECCS that adds up and BECCS that just moves emissions around.

Offtake unlocks financing. A 15-year commitment from Microsoft provides the revenue certainty needed to reach a final investment decision. This is the flywheel the CDR market needs: credible buyer commits early, project gets financed, tonnes get delivered. Without advance purchase agreements at this scale, most large CDR projects stay on paper.

Indigenous partnership sets a template. The Meadow Lake Tribal Council isn’t just a landowner here — they’re a co-developer through the Bioenergy Centre. As CDR scales, the projects that get community partnership right will move faster through permitting and build more durable social license.

The Bigger Picture

Microsoft is building one of the most diversified CDR portfolios in the world. They’re buying DAC from Climeworks, biochar from multiple suppliers, enhanced weathering, and now large-scale BECCS. Their approach is method-agnostic and volume-hungry — exactly the buyer profile the market needs to mature.

Construction on North Star is expected later this decade, with operations targeting 2029. Svante will fund development until the final investment decision.

For anyone tracking BECCS specifically: this project, combined with Svante’s US paper mill initiative targeting 500,000+ tonnes annually, puts Svante’s BECCS pipeline well above 1 million tonnes per year. That’s DAC-scale ambition from the BECCS side.

Source: Carbon Herald