GlassPoint Solar to build 1-GW solar thermal facility in Oman

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has selected US firm GlassPoint Solar Inc’s technology for a 1,021-MW solar thermal facility in South Oman, which will produce steam for enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

The Miraah project will use large, curved mirrors to focus sunlight on a boiler tube containing water to produce steam. PDO said on Wednesday the huge solar thermal plant will save 5.6 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) of natural gas each year.

“The use of solar for oil recovery is a long-term strategic solution to develop PDO’s viscous oil portfolio and reduce consumption of valuable natural gas, which is needed elsewhere to diversify Oman’s economy and create economic growth,” PDO managing director, Raoul Restucci, said at the contract signing ceremony.

Under the project, GlassPoint’s concentrating solar power (CSP) technology will be used in thermal EOR to extract heavy and viscous oil at the Amal oilfield. The over 1-GW project follows a 7-MW successful solar steam pilot at Amal.

Construction of the huge solar thermal park will commence this year, with first steam deliveries expected in 2017. The project will comprise 36 self-cleaning glasshouses, which will enclose the thin and lightweight solar collectors, protecting them from wind, sand and dust storms. There are plans to localise the supply chain, including to build a manufacturing plant in Oman.

The actual solar field will span less than 2 sq km. The solar thermal facility will generate an average of 6,000 tonnes of solar steam daily.

GlassPoint Solar’s CEO Rod MacGregor pointed out that a typical oil field consumes the same amount of energy as a small city.

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