Belfast-based Nuada raises £3.4m from BGF to develop new pilot plant

Belfast-based cleantech company Nuada has raised £3.4 million in funding from growth capital investor BGF.

The carbon capture business will use the funding, an extension of its Series A round that raised £4.5 million, to support the construction of another pilot plant that will help showcase its technology, at an energy-from-waste facility in the UK.

Nuada, which was formerly MOF Technologies, has developed technology to capture carbon dioxide from foundational and hard-to-abate industries, using next-generation “heatless” capture.

The Queen’s University Belfast spinout’s technology works with a class of nanomaterials known as metal organic frameworks (MOFs) – crystalline, sponge-like materials that are highly porous and can store, separate and capture specific gases. These nanomaterials can be used to create filters for potentially harmful emissions from industries such as cement, steel and the waste-to-energy sector, releasing the captured CO2 through pressure instead of heat. MOF Technologies has devised a way to manufacture the nanomaterials on an industrial scale.

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The company has already been working on its first plant at Buzzi Unicem’s Monselice plant in Northern Italy. Nuada is also working with other cement manufacturers such as Heidelberg Materials and Cementir Holding to deploy the technology.

“There is no Net Zero without carbon capture. However, incumbent solutions are notoriously costly and energy intensive,” said Dr Conor Hamill, co chief executive of Nuada. “Investment from BGF will further catalyse the scale-up and deployment of our technology, ensuring we are primed to efficiently decarbonise heavy industries.”

BGF also brings expertise in climate technology that Nuada said could help it make carbon capture more accessible and affordable for businesses and governments around the world.

BGF’s Dennis Atkinson and Rowan Bird said Nuada had the potential to play a significant role in the transition to a net zero carbon future using advanced technology.

“We are excited by the fact that the company’s technology is already being deployed by industry leaders in the cement sector and note that it is also applicable to other industries,” the company said. “We welcomed the opportunity to invest in and support a disruptive business that will make a meaningful contribution towards achieving net zero.”

Nuada’s Series A round was co-led by the Clean Growth Fund and Barclays’ Sustainable Impact Capital portfolio. The company also recently announced nearly £3m million of grant-funded projects from UKRI and the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.