Microsoft has significantly increased its commitment to purchase carbon removal credits from Swedish utility Stockholm Exergi, expanding a previous agreement by more than 50%, the companies announced on Tuesday.
Under the revised deal, Microsoft will now buy credits linked to the capture and storage of 5.08 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over a 10-year period, up from the originally agreed 3.33 million tonnes. According to Stockholm Exergi, this marks the largest carbon removal agreement of its kind globally.
The credits will come from a planned facility in Stockholm employing BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) technology. Stockholm Exergi, which supplies district heating to over a million residents in the Swedish capital, finalised a SEK 13 billion ($1.3 billion) investment decision for the plant earlier this year.
Captured carbon will be stored temporarily before being transported to Norway, where it will be permanently sequestered in geological formations beneath the North Sea. The process is being conducted in partnership with the Northern Lights initiative, a joint project involving Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies.
Microsoft remains one of the world’s largest corporate purchasers of carbon dioxide removal credits as it works towards its climate goals, including becoming carbon negative by 2030.
