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Meet the world’s largest solar thermal plant: State-owned mining company Ma’aden and American renewables developer GlassPoint have revealed the plans for the first phase of project development for their solar thermal energy (STE) power plant in Ras Al Khair, Zawya reports, citing a statement. An agreement was inked in 2022, and the companies expect to break ground on the project this year.
REFRESHER- STE converts radiant solar energy into heat to be repurposed for power generation, according to research published in Science Direct.
The details: The first stage of the project — which aims to decarbonize Ma’aden’s aluminum supply chain — will use GlassPoint’s Uunify storage system to generate steam that will power Ma’aden’s Alumina refinery at Ras al Khair, the statement notes. The first phase couldsave the company some 12 mn British thermal units of natural gas each year while offsetting some 600k tons of carbon emissions, it says.
Part of a much wider venture: When fully operational, the 1.5 GWth plant — named Ma’aden Solar 1 — will span 7 square kilometers. The project is set to mitigate 10% of Ma’aden’s annual emissions – the equivalent of taking nearly 130k cars off the road.
Ma’aden is on a push to slash its footprint: The company recently signed an agreement with the Saudi Investment Recycling Company to expand its aluminum repurposing capacity in a bid to meet its environmental and decarbonization targets, the company said.
GlassPoint is building a good book of business here: Back in October, GlassPoint signed an agreement with the Investment Ministry to build a solar-powered manufacturing facility in the Eastern Province that will offset the release of 200k tons of carbon emissions each year.
