Clean Energy Startup Arbor Secures $55 Million to Commercialize Zero-Emission Turbine Technology

Clean power innovator Arbor Energy has raised $55 million in Series A funding to accelerate the development of its breakthrough zero-emission turbine technology, designed to deliver clean, reliable baseload power for energy-intensive industries. The round was co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Voyager Ventures, with additional participation from Gigascale Capital, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Cantos Ventures, and others.

 

Reinventing the Turbine for a Net-Zero Future

 

Founded in 2022 by former SpaceX engineers, Arbor is applying advanced aerospace principles to power generation. Its team has reimagined traditional turbines by combining supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) cycles with oxy-combustion technology, a pairing that allows for ultra-efficient, zero-emission power production. Arbor’s core system, an sCO₂ turbine powered by oxy-combustion can operate on a range of fuels, from natural gas and syngas to biomass, enabling both decarbonization and flexibility. When running on biomass, the turbine can even achieve carbon-negative power generation, removing more CO₂ from the atmosphere than it emits. Earlier this year, Arbor signed $41 million in carbon removal agreements through Frontier, a coalition supported by companies such as Google, Shopify, and H&M Group, underscoring market confidence in its negative-emissions potential.

 

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Scaling Breakthrough Power Systems

 

The new funding will finance the completion of ATLAS, Arbor’s 1 MW pilot project, and accelerate development of HALCYON, the company’s 25 MW commercial sCO₂ power system. HALCYON combines oxy-combustion with high-efficiency sCO₂ turbomachinery to eliminate emissions while dramatically reducing footprint and cost. The company’s turbines are also 3D-printed, reducing manufacturing time and minimizing supply chain dependencies. Modular by design, HALCYON units can scale from 25 MW to over 1 GW, making them suitable for data centers, heavy industry, and grid-scale power applications. Arbor expects the first HALCYON turbine to come online by 2028, with a target to manufacture gigawatts of zero-emission capacity by the end of the decade.

 

“We have a massive opportunity to deliver abundant, clean and reliable power that keeps pace with today’s industries,” said Brad Hartwig, CEO and Co-Founder of Arbor Energy. “This funding lets us move quickly from tech pilot to commercial deployment and shows how modular, zero-emission turbines like HALCYON can solve the greatest energy challenges faced by businesses today.”

 

Investors See Industrial and Digital Synergy

 

For investors, Arbor’s innovation addresses a critical gap in the clean energy transition: baseload capacity that can complement intermittent renewables such as solar and wind.

 

“Arbor’s modular gas turbines provide the baseload capacity that data centers need, with the speed and flexibility that traditional infrastructure simply can’t match,” said Sarah Sclarsic, Founding and Managing Partner at Voyager Ventures. “And best of all, they are made in America, low-cost, and are the first zero-emission combustion turbines on the market.”

 

As global electricity demand surges driven by AI data centers, industrial electrification, and climate targets—Arbor’s scalable, emission-free turbines could play a pivotal role in balancing reliability, affordability, and sustainability.

 

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Outlook: Decarbonizing Heavy Power at Rocket Speed

 

Arbor’s SpaceX heritage has shaped a company culture centered on rapid prototyping, modular design, and engineering precision. By merging rocket propulsion know-how with power sector innovation, Arbor is positioning itself as a next-generation player in clean baseload energy, a segment essential for industrial decarbonization. If successful, HALCYON’s deployment could redefine how industries and grids achieve continuous, zero-emission power and provide a viable blueprint for scaling clean energy infrastructure in the critical decade ahead.

 

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