The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma鈥檃den) and GlassPoint entered into a memorandum of understanding to develop what they call 鈥渢he world鈥檚 largest solar process heat plant鈥� at Ma鈥檃den鈥檚 alumina refinery.
According to the companies, once the 1,500-MW solar steam facility is completed, it will help Ma鈥檃den reduce carbon emissions by over 600,000 tons annually. This represents more than a 50% reduction in the carbon footprint of the firm鈥檚 alumina refinery and a 4% drop in Ma鈥檃den鈥檚 overall carbon footprint.
The proposed new facility, a solar thermal plant known as Ma鈥檃den Solar 1, will be located in Ras al Khair, a town in Saudi鈥檚 Eastern Province. The goal is for it to harness the power of the sun to produce steam. The steam will be used to refine bauxite ore into alumina.
鈥淢a鈥檃den is leading the way to reduce industrial carbon emissions at scale by replacing fossil fuels with solar power to create heat,鈥� Rod MacGregor, CEO and founder of GlassPoint, said in a media statement. 鈥淭his facility, when built, will be the largest industrial solar steam plant in the world and the first deployed in both Saudi Arabia and in the aluminum supply chain.鈥�