GlassPoint, an industrial solar steam company based in the US, has teamed up with the Saudi Ministry of Investment to establish a concentrated solar power-to-steam manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. This initiative is part of the initial phase of their solar thermal project for Ma’aden and aims to export renewable energy components regionally.
The GlassPoint Ma’aden Technology Showcase (GMTS) is the first stage of the $1.5 billion Ma’aden I project, touted as the world’s largest industrial solar thermal effort. This project will implement direct solar-to-heat technology and advanced thermal storage to reduce carbon emissions in Ma’aden’s aluminum production process.
Furthermore, GlassPoint has partnered with Cox, a Spanish utility company, to handle the engineering and construction of GMTS and other solar thermal projects worldwide.
The GMTS will initially supply 1% of the steam needed by Ma’aden’s bauxite refinery at Ras Al Khair. Once fully operational, Ma’aden I will provide 65% of the refinery’s steam needs, cutting carbon emissions by 600,000 tonnes annually—comparable to taking 130,000 cars off the road—while matching the cost of gas-powered systems.
This project aligns with MISA’s Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, focusing on diversifying supply chains and supporting the Saudi Green Initiative. The new facility is expected to create over 200 green jobs and export renewable energy components to the GCC, North Africa, and Southern Europe.
GlassPoint has introduced several cost-reducing innovations for their solar fields and thermal storage systems, including anticlastic polymer membranes, high-performance Niobium mirrors, and ternary liquid salt. Their technology uses reflective mirrors in a glasshouse to direct sunlight onto pipes containing liquid salt, which stores and transfers thermal energy.
