Svante Technologies, a leading innovator in carbon capture technology based in British Columbia, is set to receive a significant financial boost of up to $137 million from the Canadian government’s Canada Growth Fund (CGF). The CGF, established by the Trudeau government in 2022 with a $15 billion fund, aims to support Canadian technologies and projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Svante will receive the funding in two tranches.
“The purpose of this funding is to allow us to be more aggressive in collaborating with our customers to build first-of-a-kind carbon capture facilities,” Svante CEO Claude Letourneau told BIV News. “We will act as co-project developers and invest equity in the first commercial plants.”
Patrick Charbonneau, president of Canada Growth Fund Investment Management Inc., highlighted the fund’s role in accelerating the deployment of Canadian carbon capture technologies and scaling manufacturing for global export. “Svante has a tremendous market opportunity, both globally and domestically, and we are eager to support the company’s growth,” Charbonneau said.
Svante has developed a groundbreaking alternative to the traditional solvent-based carbon capture technology, employing a dry, solid adsorption filter that efficiently extracts CO2 from industrial flue gases. This innovation, combined with their rotary adsorption machine (RAM), enables faster cycling, improved energy efficiency, and reduced costs compared to conventional systems.
To date, Svante has raised $685 million (US$500 million), with over 90% sourced from private investors. The company is currently investing nearly $200 million (US$145 million) in a new 141,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Burnaby, designed to produce filters and RAM machines. When fully operational in May 2025, the plant will have the capacity to supply filters for 10 carbon capture plants, capable of capturing 10 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
The Canada Growth Fund’s $137 million investment will be provided as convertible notes, with the first tranche of $69 million (US$50 million) allocated immediately to support and de-risk pioneering commercial projects. Svante’s business model includes equipment manufacturing, providing technology packages to industry, and co-developing carbon capture projects, with a focus on industries such as steel, pulp and paper, bioenergy, and bio-ethanol.
While the U.S. has been the primary market for Svante’s technology, interest is expanding in Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Brazil. Svante’s existing projects capture approximately 10,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, with upcoming projects expected to scale up to 200,000 to 1 million tonnes per year.
