GlassPoint preps to build 1-GW solar plant for EOR in Oman - report

California-based GlassPoint Solar Inc expects to start work later this month on the 1-GW Miraah solar thermal park in Oman that will produce steam for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), its head told Bloomberg.

As previously announced, GlassPoint will use its concentrating solar power (CSP) technology in thermal EOR to extract heavy and viscous oil at the Amal oilfield. CEO Rod MacGregor told the news agency that the company is mulling developing solar energy for other applications in the oil sector, including for desalination and desulfurisation.

Globally, powering the oil production process requires the use of some 9 million barrels of the fossil fuel each day, MacGregor has said. A standard medium-sized oilfield needs between 1 GW and 3 GW of solar thermal power to produce enough steam, according to the report.

The Miraah project will use large, curved mirrors to focus sunlight on a boiler tube containing water to produce steam. The company expects to complete the plant in late 2017, Bloomberg said.

GlassPoint’s partner at Amal is Petroleum Development Oman. The latter is jointly owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA and the government of Oman.

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