Belfast-based carbon capture technology specialist Nuada has secured €2.5m in funding from one of the European Union’s most prestigious innovation prizes, the EIC Accelerator, becoming the first company from Northern Ireland to be awarded funding from the programme.
Nuada is a carbon capture company dedicated to decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, lime, steel and energy from waste, through next-generation CO2 filtration technology that efficiently and economically captures the direct carbon emissions from these manufacturing processes.
Run by the European Innovation Council (EIC), the EIC Accelerator is a programme that offers support to start-ups and SMEs that have innovative, game-changing products, services or business models that could create new markets or disrupt existing ones in Europe and worldwide.
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From over 1,200 proposals submitted, the EIC selected 71 cutting-edge companies for funding, with only five from the UK chosen and Nuada the only recipient from Northern Ireland. The EIC said this year’s process had been the most competitive funding round since the launch of the Accelerator under Horizon Europe four years ago.
Jose Casaban, co-CEO of Nuada, said: “The award from the EIC Accelerator is another stamp of approval for Nuada’s technology and our potential to disrupt and advance industrial decarbonisation. It was a highly competitive process, so being selected as one of only a handful of UK companies and the first in Northern Ireland to secure the award is very rewarding for our team of experts and fuels our mission to commercialise critical technology for decarbonising industry”.
The UK government sees carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) as essential to the UK achieving net zero by 2050. However, the UK parliament acknowledged in December 2024 that the goal of capturing and storing 20 to 30 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030 is no longer achievable. A major factor behind the delay in CCUS deployment is the high capital costs and energy intensity required to operate CCUS facilities.
Conor Hamill, co-CEO of Nuada, said: “The time to impact the market transition phase of the UK’s CCUS vision is now. The energy intensity and equipment costs of the incumbent processes are just not sustainable to growth. The current expenditure levels and liabilities associated with these traditional capture solutions risk the pace and scale of the Government’s ambitions. Next generation capture technologies like Nuada’s are directly addressing these adoption barriers, and scaling new capture platforms will unlock the transition of Government from funder to enabler”.
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In addition to the EIC Accelerator grant, Nuada has also recently been awarded a further €2.2m from another EU programme. The funding awards will be used by Nuada to accelerate the scaling up and enhance the market readiness of its energy-efficient capture technology, ensuring that this cost-effective decarbonisation solution will be commercially deployed and helping European industries transform in a timely manner to remain competitive in decades to come.
Nuada already has two capture plants on the ground at industrial sites across Europe and has partnerships with some of the world’s largest cement companies, a US lime producer and a leading UK energy-from-waste company.
The company’s growth journey has been supported by BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active equity investor, which invested £3.4m in the business in 2023. The investment followed a £4.5m investment co-led by the Clean Growth Fund and Barclays, and nearly £3m of grant funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Since receiving minority equity investment from BGF, the company has tripled the size of its team to 42 and last year opened a new, purpose-built 18,000 sq. ft manufacturing and development facility in Newtownabbey.
Dennis Atkinson, Co-Head of Early Stage at BGF said: “We’re delighted to see Jose and Conor and their team achieving such significant recognition for Nuada’s groundbreaking carbon capture technology. It’s clear this innovative technology will have a role to play as countries work out how to meet their far-reaching net zero targets over the coming decades and we look forward to seeing Nuada further recognised at the highest levels as a genuine leader in the market.”
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