GlassPoint, a leader in decarbonising industrial process heat, has announced plans to build the world’s largest industrial solar thermal project – Maaden I – in the kingdom in partnership with Saudi mining giant Maaden and Spanish utility major Cox.

Cox will be its technical and delivery partner in building the GlassPoint Ma’aden Technology Showcase (GMTS), as well as several additional solar thermal projects globally.

The GMTS is the first stage in building the mega solar thermal project, Ma’aden I, being set up as part of a $1.5-billion project which will combine direct solar-to-heat technology with advanced thermal storage to accelerate the decarbonising of Ma’aden’s aluminium supply chain.

Unveiling the next phase of development for the GMTS in partnership with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA), GlassPoint said it will feature several advanced technology developments from GlassPoint that enable industrial facilities to decarbonise heat by up to 70 per cent while delivering cost parity with legacy gas-powered steam systems.

Breakthroughs in anticlastic polymer membranes, high-performance Niobium mirrors, and ternary liquid salt have enabled the company to reduce parts count by 60 per cent  and weight by 75 per cent. Together these enhancements, built on previous technology improvements revealed last year, have reduced the cost of the solar field by 30 per cent  and the cost of the thermal storage subsystem by 50 per cent , it stated.