Deep Sky opens world’s first cross-tech direct-air carbon capture innovation centre in Alberta

Deep Sky, a carbon capture innovation centre is harnessing the unique environment of Alberta for some critical tests with the technology.

INNISFAIL, Alta. — Deep Sky Alpha is a new Alberta facility billed as the world’s first innovation and commercialization centre for carbon removal technology, even as smaller direct air capture plants already operate in places such as Iceland.

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Deep Sky says what makes its Innisfail project unique is that it will test multiple direct air capture (DAC) technologies side by side under real-world Canadian conditions, something no other facility has done.

The Innisfail project, known as Deep Sky Alpha, is designed to capture up to 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, with room for expansion.

“As of this summer, we began carbon removal, which is actually sucking it out of the air through these very powerful fans, but also liquefying it and then putting it underground for storage,” Deep Sky CEO Alex Petre told CTV News.

First-of-its-kind approach

While the Climeworks Orca plant in Iceland has been capturing about 4,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year since 2021, and another plant in Iceland called Mammoth is aiming for 36,000 tonnes annually, those facilities use a single technology.

By contrast, Deep Sky Alpha will operate up to 10 competing DAC systems side by side, monitoring their performance in Alberta’s heat and cold.

In the United States, construction is underway on two Department of Energy–backed DAC hubs in Texas and Louisiana, each targeting 500,000 tonnes per year — more than 100 times the capacity of Innisfail’s pilot.

But Deep Sky says its role is to determine which technologies are worth scaling to that size.

“The beauty of Innisfail is that we’re not betting on one approach,” Petre said. “We’re putting different systems next to each other, in the same Canadian conditions, so we can really see what works and what doesn’t.”

Alberta’s role and investment

The Alberta government is investing $5 million through Emissions Reduction Alberta, funded by the industry-backed Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system.

In the June 25 funding announcement, Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said the project reflects Alberta’s approach to emissions reduction.

“Direct air capture has some potential and is being looked at in other jurisdictions, so it’s great to see companies choosing Alberta as a place to invest and do business,” said Schulz.

Captured carbon will be trucked about 200 kilometres north to Sturgeon County and injected more than two kilometres underground at the Meadowbrook carbon storage hub.

It is the first project approved under Alberta’s open-access carbon sequestration hub initiative.

Petre said the province was chosen not only for its geology but also for its workforce.

“One of the reasons we chose Alberta is because the skill set of Alberta workers is a skill set that overlaps very well with the oil and gas industry,” she said.

“We have the engineers, we have the construction crews, we have the people who know how to work with big infrastructure and with subsurface operations.”

Economic impact

Deep Sky says construction created more than 110 jobs in Innisfail and the facility will support 15 permanent operations positions.

Over the next decade, it could bring $110 million in investment into the community.

If scaled nationally, the company envisions building 100 large-scale plants across Canada, each employing about 1,000 workers for construction and 150 for operations.

That could establish Canada as a global hub for carbon removal while creating thousands of high-demand careers in green energy.

“This is not just about climate, it’s also about jobs,” Petre said. “We’re talking about thousands of high-paying, high-quality jobs for Canadians if we scale this industry the way we envision.”

Canada’s positioning

Deep Sky has drawn support from international partners including Microsoft, RBC and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a fund backed by Bill Gates that has committed $40 million.

The company’s model is to license DAC technology, manufacture units at scale, and sell verified carbon removal credits to companies offsetting emissions.

“The mission here is bigger than one project,” Petre said. “It’s about putting Canada on the map as the place where carbon removal is proven, where technologies are de-risked, and where the world can come to see how this industry really works.”

Deep Sky Alpha will also serve as a showcase of the technologies, hosting visits from researchers, corporate leaders and governments.

“It will be a place where people from around the world can come and see what direct air capture really is, how it works, and why Canada is the place to do it,” Petre said.

Globally, the International Energy Agency estimates that DAC capacity must expand from today’s 27 plants capturing a combined 10,000 tonnes per year to more than 60 million tonnes annually by 2030 to stay on track for net-zero goals.

By 2050, scientists suggest the world may need to remove up to 10 gigatonnes per year.