US solar steam projects developer GlassPoint on Tuesday announced it is advancing plans to build the world’s largest industrial solar thermal project in Saudi Arabia, unveiling the next phase of development for the GlassPoint Ma’aden Technology Showcase (GMTS).
GlassPoint is developing the GMTS project with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA). The company has engaged its technical and delivery partner, Spanish energy and water utility Cox (BME:COXG), to assist in the building process.
The GMTS is the first stage in building the world’s largest industrial solar thermal project, Ma’aden I, a $1.5B project which will combine direct solar to heat technology with advanced thermal storage to accelerate the decarbonizing of Ma’aden’s aluminum supply chain.
The GMTS project will use reflective mirrors inside a glasshouse to focus sunlight onto a pipe carrying liquid salt to capture energy from the sun. It will utilise advanced technology developments from GlassPoint, such as anticlastic polymer membranes, high-performance Niobium mirrors and ternary liquid salt. This reduces parts count by 60% and weight by 75%, allowing the cost of the solar field to be cut by 30% and of the thermal storage subsystem by 50%, according to GlassPoint.
To support these projects and enable the export of high-technology renewable energy components to the region, GlassPoint and MISA will be also constructing a solar manufacturing facility in the Kingdom.
