Amsterdam-based climate tech startup Brineworks has opened a Direct Air Capture (DAC) demonstration plant at Amsterdam Science Park, marking the first operational proof of a technology designed to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere at below €100 per tonne. The plant, capable of capturing up to 100 tonnes of CO₂ per year, went live on 4 June 2026 and represents a critical step toward commercial readiness for one of the park’s most promising deep-tech ventures.
Gudfinnur Sveinsson, CEO of Brineworks “The early numbers are confirming what we set out to prove: that Direct Air Capture will get affordable enough to actually deploy at the scale the world needs ”
Founded in 2023 and based in Matrix ONE, Amsterdam Science Park’s flagship innovation building, Brineworks has developed a proprietary electrolyser that captures CO₂ directly from the air while simultaneously producing green hydrogen. The two outputs are precisely what the e-fuels industry needs: together they form the feedstocks for sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) and e-methanol for shipping — sectors that together account for roughly 4.5% of global CO₂ emissions and have few viable decarbonisation pathways at scale.
The demonstration plant is the startup’s first system operating at this scale, and early data is tracking in line with the company’s cost projections. “This is the moment we’ve been working towards,” said Gudfinnur Sveinsson, CEO of Brineworks. “The early numbers are confirming what we set out to prove: that Direct Air Capture will get affordable enough to actually deploy at the scale the world needs.”
What sets Brineworks apart technically is the combination of both outputs in a single electrochemical process. Most DAC approaches focus solely on CO₂ capture; Brineworks’ system co-produces green hydrogen at the same time, reducing the effective cost of both. “We’re literally generating tonnes of clean CO₂ and green hydrogen using a single electrochemical system, and we’re already confirming our cost projections while we do it,” said Dr. Joseph Perryman, CTO of Brineworks, who completed his postdoctoral research in electrochemistry at Stanford University. “The cost trajectory we’re seeing from the demo plant is the validation our engineers have been chasing.”
The electrolyser is designed to operate flexibly with intermittent renewable power, making it well-suited to energy grids increasingly reliant on wind and solar.
Brineworks is a clear example of the science-based, long-term innovation that Amsterdam Science Park is built to support. With approximately €10 million raised to date across financing rounds and European grants, and a next funding round in preparation, the company is now focused on scaling toward a commercial-scale pilot. If development targets are met, Brineworks’ technology could be supplying carbon-neutral feedstocks to the aviation industry before 2030.
Source: Based on a press release by Brineworks, 1 June 2026.
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