April 7, 2026
Scott Gardner, president of Svante Development, stands in front of the company’s commercial carbon capture machine at Svante’s headquarters in Burnaby, BC, Canada
Microsoft has agreed to purchase 626,000 tonnes of Durable Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) credits over 15 years from the North Star Carbon Capture and Storage Bioenergy Project (BECCS) in Saskatchewan, Canada.
The deal was made with North Star Carbon Solutions LP, a partnership between the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) and Svante Technologies.
This is Microsoft’s first Canadian BECCS-CDR offtake agreement and is believed to be the first such agreement in Canada involving Indigenous owners.
The North Star project will be located at the MLTC Bioenergy Center, a renewable energy facility powered by waste biomass from an adjacent sawmill.
At full capacity, the CO2 capture facility will generate up to 90,000 tonnes of CDR credits per year. The captured CO2 is transported and permanently stored in a geological storage site owned and operated by North Star.
Commercial operation is planned for early 2029, with Svante providing all financing until the construction decision.
Scott Gardner, President of Svante Development, said: “We are pleased with this groundbreaking agreement for BECCS in Canada.” “Microsoft’s commitment to anchor acceptance sends a strong signal to the market regarding the quality of North Star’s CDRs and the Canadian market’s willingness to undertake such projects.”
Jeremy Norman, tribal chief of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, said, “North Star reflects the MLTC Nations’ longstanding commitment to land stewardship and sustainable forest management.” “The project demonstrates how Indigenous leadership and collaboration can advance climate solutions while supporting meaningful employment and economic opportunities for our member states and the surrounding community.”
Phillip Goodman, head of carbon removal portfolio at Microsoft, said: “To achieve our climate goals, we need to help scale solutions that provide persistent storage and are supported by rigorous monitoring and verification.”
The project is expected to create around 50 local jobs during the development and construction phases and up to 10 permanent positions once operational.
Scott Gardner, president of Svante Development, stands in front of the company’s commercial carbon capture machine at Svante’s headquarters in Burnaby, BC, Canada
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