Frontier secures $31 million carbon removal deal with Planetary
Carbon removal buyer coalition Frontier has announced offtake agreements worth more than $31 million with Planetary, a company advancing ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) technology. Buyers include Stripe, Google, Shopify, McKinsey Sustainability, Autodesk, H&M Group, and Workday.
Under the agreements, Planetary will deliver 115,000 tons of carbon removals between 2026 and 2030. The removals will be achieved through a process that extracts carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the ocean for thousands of years, making this the largest OAE carbon removal agreement to date.
Founded in 2019, Canada-based Planetary is developing OAE methods to both remove CO₂ and help address ocean acidification. The company’s approach adds a pure antacid to seawater, increasing alkalinity and neutralizing CO₂ and carbonic acid into stable salts. These remain stored in the ocean for more than 10,000 years. As CO₂ is removed from the water, the ocean can absorb more CO₂ from the air through the natural air-sea exchange process.
The agreement builds on Planetary’s pilot project at Tufts Cove, Nova Scotia, which recently delivered the world’s first verified OAE tons. The next phase of operations will begin in 2026.
Planetary CEO Mike Kelland said:
“This offtake with Frontier buyers allows us to demonstrate that ocean alkalinity enhancement can safely and effectively remove CO₂ beyond small-scale trials. This approach could be the cheapest and most scalable carbon removal solution. We’re eager to show how it can be rolled out responsibly.”
Planetary CEO Mike Kelland
Frontier emphasized the potential scale of Planetary’s process, which could grow to billions of tons of carbon removal annually at an estimated cost of $50–$160 per ton. It also pointed to environmental benefits, such as easing acidification and improving local marine ecosystems. Frontier highlighted Planetary’s measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) process, which includes dissolving alkaline minerals before release and using sensors and validated computational models to track effects.
Alongside direct buyers, Frontier’s partnership with Watershed means companies including Aledade, Canva, Match Group, Samsara, SKIMS, Skyscanner, Wise, and Zendesk will also participate.
Hannah Bebbington, Head of Deployment at Frontier, said:
“Ocean alkalinity enhancement can remove CO₂ from the atmosphere extremely cheaply and efficiently. But expanding it beyond small-scale trials calls for ironclad measurement and safety protocols, alongside addressing community concerns. Planetary is taking on these challenges head on with a rigorous MRV approach and thoughtful community engagement at their Tufts Cove site. This is the right project and team to pave the way forward for this promising pathway.”
Hannah Bebbington, Head of Deployment at Frontier
