| Summary | Low-volume prepurchase agreements or R&D grants to support early-stage project teams piloting new technologies and/or advancing research on Frontier's target innovation areas | Larger offtake agreements to support more mature suppliers preparing to scale |
| Purchase amount | ~US$250K–$1.5M | ~US$10M–$50M |
| Purchase structure | - Prepurchases: Paid upfront, before carbon removal tons have been delivered
- R&D grants: Payments up front and upon delivery of research milestones
| - Commitment to buy future carbon removal tons at an agreed-upon price if and when delivered
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| Frontier expectations and risk tolerance | Thorough diligence, higher risk tolerance than offtakes | More extensive diligence, lower risk tolerance than Innovation projects |
| Application cadence | Pre-applications accepted on a rolling basis | Applications accepted on a rolling basis |
| Application deadline | No deadline, but we encourage you to submit your pre-application as early as possible | No deadline, but we encourage you to submit your expression of interest as early as possible |
| Expected status across evaluation criteria for CDR purchases |
| Track 1: Innovation* - Prepurchase | Track 2: Offtake |
| Performance data | - There is lab-scale performance and preliminary stability data (preferably for days or more) showing proof of concept that the company's approach removes CO₂ from the atmosphere.
| - Tech has been validated, preferably at or beyond small pilot scale, with data establishing performance and stability baseline.
- Roadmap defined for how the company will narrow gaps between current data and technoeconomic analysis (TEA) assumptions.
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| Monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) | - Clear MRV approach outlined.
- For CDR pathways with lower verification confidence levels (VCLs), risks are identified and a method presented for how new data will be generated to reduce quantification uncertainty.
| - Company has a CDR protocol and is in discussion with one or more credit issuers.
- Volume offered is discounted based on identified MRV uncertainties (if any) and we have high confidence in the ability to quantify volumes purchased.
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| Techno-economic analysis (TEA) | - A TEA based on a process flow diagram and mass and energy balance, using realistic engineering values (or similar) for equipment pricing, first principles estimates of performance, and basic assumptions for utility costs (format provided).
| - A high-fidelity TEA based on a pre-FEED design or similar, including a full process model. Key performance assumptions identified and validated with data.
- Ideally including quotes for major equipment, utilities, and O&M costs for specific locations.
- Confidence committing to a set price in a multi-year contract.
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| Ecosystem safety (e.g., impact to soils and oceans) | - Compelling case for why this CDR project does not cause additional ecosystem damage, based on experimental data and models.
- Company identifies potential risks and presents a plan to generate new data to confirm ecosystem safety at scale across early deployments.
| - Compelling case for why this CDR project does not cause additional ecosystem damage, based on experimental data.
- Ideally, the supplier has published ecosystem impact data and responded to feedback from the scientific community regarding potential risks.
- There is manageable remaining uncertainty around ecosystem impact, and the company will actively manage deployments using appropriate ongoing ecosystem monitoring.
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| Community engagement | - Clear plans to collect input from stakeholders impacted by the project at early stages and to improve deployment based on that input.
| - Has proactively engaged stakeholders and revised deployment plans accordingly.
- Has or is developing a community benefits plan and an ongoing process to collect and act on community input.
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| Team and operational capability | - There is demonstrated expertise on the team for initial development work.
- Company has a hiring and/or partnering plan for other aspects of the project.
| - Company has experienced technical and commercial staff and project partners are identified and committed.
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| Business strategy and financing | - Key business case assumptions and risks identified.
- Preliminary plan established for next steps if the project is successful.
| - Company can define how the project fits within their strategy and the CDR market and policy landscape.
- Team has a credible path to securing financing and reaching a final investment decision.
- Company has supply chain, manufacturing, and risk management strategies.
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