Saudi’s Ma’aden and GlassPoint Unveil Plans to Build Solar Thermal Technology Showcase

Saudi’s Ma’aden and GlassPoint Unveil Plans to Build Solar Thermal Technology Showcase

Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden), the largest multi-commodity mining and metals company firm in the Middle East, and GlassPoint, the leader in decarbonizing industrial process heat, today unveiled plans to build a Technology Showcase for its solar steam technology during the Future Minerals Forum taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Technology Showcase marks the first stage of project development for the world’s largest industrial solar thermal project and will have capacity to supply nine tons of steam per hour to begin decarbonizing Ma’aden’s aluminum supply chain.

The Technology Showcase will combine direct generation of heat and storage to provide a continuous base load of steam to Ma’aden’s Alumina refinery at Ras al Khair. Initial capacity will be about 1% of the larger project, which is slated to save more than 12M MMBTUs of energy annually and reduce carbon emissions by 600,000 tons per year.

Robert Wilt, CEO of Ma’aden said: “Ma’aden is taking action today to help the Kingdom achieve its net zero target by 2060. Our Technology Showcase with GlassPoint represents an important step toward large-scale decarbonization that will firmly position Ma’aden as a sustainable industrial leader and support the continued advancement of important climate goals.”

Rod MacGregor, GlassPoint founder and CEO,