GlassPoint is a private company founded in 2009 that designs and manufactures solar steam generators which use solar thermal technology to generate steam for industrial processes.

Overview

GlassPoint's enclosed trough technology encloses lightweight, trough-shaped mirrors with piping in a standard agricultural greenhouse, concentrating the sun's energy to create steam. By using the enclosed trough architecture, GlassPoint claims it can produce emission-free steam for two to three times less than competing

concentrated solar power Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...

technologies, such as the power tower and linear fresnel. The company is based in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, New York, with a global presence. In December 2012, GlassPoint announced $26 million in Series B financing. Investors in the round included

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

, RockPort Capital, Nth Power and Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital. In September 2014, GlassPoint announced $53 million in Series C financing. Investors in the round included

, State General Reserve Fund of Oman, RockPort Capital, Nth Power and Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital. It was announced that GlassPoint was to be liquidated in May 2020, the company citing low and unpredictable oil and gas prices for the decision. In June 2022, GlassPoint re-emerged under the leadership of the founding CEO, Rod MacGregor, adopting a new build-own-operate business model and unveiling an MOU fo
one of the largest solar projects
in history with Saudi Arabian Mining Company ( Ma’aden Group). GlassPoint announced it has moved to a “steam as a service” model to reduce up front risk and expanded its markets to include hard-to-abate industries producing materials essential to the energy transition, including mining, metals, and manufacturing.

Projects

Berry Petroleum

In 2011, GlassPoint deployed the world's first commercial solar EOR project at an oilfield operated by Berry Petroleum in Kern County, California USA. Built in less than six weeks, the system uses the sun's

radiant heat Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of particles in matter. Thermal radiation is generated when heat from the movement of charges in the material (electrons and protons in common forms of matter) is ...

to produce approximately 1 million British Thermal Units (Btus) per hour of solar heat. GlassPoint partnered with local firms TJ Cross Engineers and PCL Industrial Services, as well as San Francisco based REM Design, to construct the system, which spans 7,000 square feet of land on the 100-year-old oilfield. The enclosed trough system preheats water to 190 °F used as feed water for Berry Petroleum's gas-fired steam generators.

Petroleum Development Oman

In May 2013, GlassPoint commissioned the Middle East's first solar EOR project, a 7MW system developed in partnership with

Petroleum Development Oman Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the leading exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman. The Company delivers the majority of the country's crude oil production and natural gas supply. The company is owned by the Government of ...

(PDO), the largest oil company in the

Sultanate of Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

. The system produces an average of 50 tons of emissions-free steam daily. It has operated successfully for more than 4 years, generating an average of 50 tons of emissions-free steam per day that is fed directly into existing thermal EOR operations at PDO's Amal West oilfield. The system was completed on time, on budget, and with no lost time or injuries demonstrating GlassPoint and PDO's shared commitment to health, safety, security and the environment (HSSE). During the first 12 months of operations, the actual performance of the GlassPoint system matched output models by a few percent and steam production continues to exceed contracted performance targets. The system recorded 98.6% uptime and maintained regular operations even during severe dust and sand storms. The automated roof-washing unit proved particularly effective in all weather events, restoring system performance overnight. The project served as a performance and operational baseline for larger steam generators in Oman and provided

with valuable information for planning potential large-scale projects in the future. In July 2015,

and GlassPoint announced that they had signed an agreement to build a 1 GWth solar field of 1.8 km. The project, named Miraah, was designed to be the world's largest solar field measured by peak thermal capacity. In August 2017, GlassPoint and its contractors crossed the threshold of 1.5 million man-hours worked without lost time injury (LTI) at Miraah. In November 2017, GlassPoint and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) completed construction on the first block of the Miraah solar plant safely on schedule and in line with budget and successfully delivered steam to the Amal West oilfield. Today, the first 330 MWt at Miraah are operating and meeting all performance targets.

Additional solar EOR projects

In November 2017,

Aera Energy Aera Energy LLC (or simply Aera) is a natural gas, oil exploration and production company started as a joint venture between Shell plc (through Shell USA) and Mobil (which later merged to form ExxonMobil). Headquartered in Bakersfield, Califo ...

and GlassPoint announced a joint project to create California's largest solar energy field. In November 2018, GlassPoint and

Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States, and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in t ...

of Oman signed an agreement to cooperate on a solar thermal project to facilitate oil production on an oilfield in the

. Neither deal was completed due to financing issues. Ma adan View3 05-24-large (2)

Ma'aden Solar I

In June 2022, Glasspoint and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden Group) signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") to develop the world's largest solar process steam plant in Ras al Khair, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When complete, the 1,500 MWth facility will reduce Ma’aden’s carbon emissions by over 600,000 tons annually, nearly 4% of Ma'aden's overall carbon footprint, bringing the company closer to its mandate of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Awards

* ''

Platts S&P Global Commodity Insights is a provider of energy and commodities information and a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical commodity markets. The business was started with the foundation in 1909 of the magazine ''National Pet ...

Global Energy Awards 2011''. Commercial Technology of the Year Award * ''Oil & Gas Middle East Awards 2013''. Enhanced Oil Recovery Award * '' MEED Quality Awards 2014''. Oman Sustainable Project of the Year * ''MENASOL'' CSP Technology Innovation for MENA 2015 * Oil & Gas Middle East 2016. Best EOR Project of the Year * SolarPACES 2016. Technology Innovation Award * World Economic Forum 2016. Technology Pioneer * Shell Upstream International 2016. Impact Award for Safety & Environment * ADIPEC 2015. Best Oil & Gas Innovation or Technology * MENASOL 2017. CSP Technology Innovation

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.glasspoint.com/ Companies based in Fremont, California Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Solar thermal energy