One of the earliest recognitions of GlassPoint’s innovation in concentrated solar thermal was the SolarPACES Technology Innovation Award 2016 for its innovative trough CST enclosed inside glasshouses for generating steam directly for EOR. Now a Saudi factory will make GlassPoint’s lightweight trough solar collectors, and the firm has now expanded its market focus to include the many industries that use steam.

GlassPoint to build a factory in Saudi Arabia to mass-produce its gigantic lightweight trough solar collectors for industrial steam.

GlassPoint, the leader in decarbonizing industrial process heat with a 1 GW solar steam project in Oman online since 2017, today announced it has partnered with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to build a solar manufacturing facility and technology showcase in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

The factory will provide supply chain resilience for the world’s largest solar thermal project, help diversify the Kingdom’s economy and deepen regional leadership as a technology export hub

At full capacity, the factory will produce enough renewable energy technology annually to generate 5,000 tons of solar steam, offset four million MMBtus of gas, and reduce carbon emissions by 200,000 tons each year. Technology manufactured in the facility will be used for projects in the metals & mining, building materials, and additional industrial sectors.

Last year, GlassPoint signed an MOU with the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (MA’ADEN) to develop the world’s largest solar process steam plant. The manufacturing facility will also support technology exports throughout the region while helping to diversify the Kingdom’s economy further and deepen its leadership as a technology export hub.

Under the partnership, MISA will provide support and advice. GlassPoint will provide technology and operational expertise – from deploying the only solution proven at scale to decarbonize industrial heat.

H. E. Khalid Al-Falih, the Saudi Minister of Investment, stated: “Saudi Arabia is committed to leading the region in economic development and sustainability. Our partnership with GlassPoint demonstrates important progress in doing both while also diversifying our economy, strengthening supply chains, and deepening high-tech leadership.”

Asaad H. Aljomoai, M.D. Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative stated: “MISA’s partnership with GlassPoint will deepen the Kingdom’s leadership in climate technology across the region. The new factory will play an important role in building some of the largest solar thermal projects in the world. Also, it will create a new export market to advance renewable energy projects beyond our borders.”

Rod MacGregor, CEO and founder of GlassPoint, stated: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has set a goal to generate 50% of its power from renewable sources by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2060. With support from MISA, GlassPoint’s new facilities will help deploy renewable energy across the Kingdom to help meet these targets. By helping decarbonize the industrial sector, we will improve the climate impact of hard-to-abate industries across the region, and help meet rising demand for low-carbon materials.”

The partnership is part of MISA’s Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, which aims to attract strategic supply chains to Saudi Arabia and expand the Kingdom’s market share in sectors essential to combating climate change. The agreement also represents progress towards achieving Saudi Vision 2030 – a transformational plan that aims to diversify the country’s economy, society, and culture – and goals set out in the Saudi Green Initiative to create a greener future for all.

The news comes on the heels of GlassPoint’s recent funding round led by 300PPM to meet growing demand for proven solutions to decarbonize industrial process heat. The company recently added a slate of seasoned leadership to its board and opened a solar technology center in Stuttgart, Germany, to expand its innovation leadership.

GlassPoint is the leader in decarbonizing the $444B industrial process heat market. By focusing on reducing emissions associated with the production of materials essential to the energy transition, GlassPoint is making a substantial impact on combating climate change. The company builds, owns, and operates large-scale solar steam facilities to reduce carbon emissions in hard-to-abate industries such as mining and metals, chemicals, construction materials, desalination, and others requiring industrial process heat or steam.

GlassPoint has the only solution proven at scale to reduce carbon emissions from industrial process heat and has built more than half of the industrial solar steam capacity in the world. Learn more about the Saudi factory at glasspoint.com.