GlassPoint Solar

December 6, 2017
by Webmaster
6 min read

GlassPoint Solar is a private company founded in 2009 that designs and manufactures solar steam generators that use solar thermal technology to generate steam for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)

Overview

GlassPoint’s enclosed trough technology encloses lightweight mirrors in a standard agricultural greenhouse, concentrating the sun’s energy to heat water and create steam. The steam is then injected into an oil reservoir to aid the extraction of heavy crude. [1] The company’s solar thermal technology uses trough-shaped mirrors, standard piping and a greenhouse structure. [2] 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 technologies, such as the power tower and linear fresnel . [3] The company is based in Fremont, California, with offices in Bakersfield , California, Muscat, Oman , Kuwait City, Kuwait and Shenzhen, China .

In December 2012, GlassPoint announced $ 26 million in Series B financing. Investors in the round included Royal Dutch Shell , Capital RockPort, Nth Power and Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital. [4]

In September 2014, GlassPoint announced $ 53 million in Series C financing. Investors in the round included Royal Dutch Shell , State General Reserve Fund of Oman, Capital RockPort, Nth Power and Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital. [5]

To date, GlassPoint has a total of $ 86.7 million in funding. [6]

Projects

Berry Petroleum

The world’s first solar EOR project, operated by Berry Petroleum Company in Kern Country, CA, USA.

In 2011, GlassPoint deployed the world’s first commercial EOR project at an oil field operated by Berry Petroleum in Kern County, Calif., USA . [7] Built in less than six weeks, the system uses the sun’s radiant heat 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 to build 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 feedwater for Berry Petroleum’s gas-fired steam generators.

Petroleum Development Oman

A solar enhanced oil recovery project commissioned by Petroleum Development Oman

In May 2013, GlassPoint commissioned the Middle East’s first solar EOR project, a 7MWth system developed in partnership with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the largest oil company in the Sultanate of Oman . The system produces an average of 50 tons of emissions-free steam daily. [8] This system is now in its operation of an average of 50 tones of emissions-free steam for EOR operations at PDO’s Amal West Oilfield. [9]

The system was completed on time, on budget, and with no Lost Time Injuries demonstrating GlassPoint and PDO’s shared commitment to health, safety, security and the environment(HSSE). During the first 12 months of operations, the current performance of the GlassPoint system continues to be in line with the market. The system recorded 98.6% uptime and maintained regular operations during severe dust and sand storms . The automated roof-washing unit is particularly effective in all weather events, restoring system performance overnight. [10] The project is serving as a performance and operational baseline for large-scale generators in the world.

In July 2015, Petroleum Development Oman and GlassPoint Solar announced that they signed an agreement to build a GWth solar field. The total solar field will be 1.8KM and the total project will be 3KM. The project, named Miraah , will be the world’s largest solar field measured by peak thermal capacity. [11]

In August 2017, GlassPoint and its contractors crossed the threshold of 1.5 million man-hours (LTI) at Miraah.

In November 2017, GlassPoint and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) successfully completed the construction of the Miraah solar plant on schedule and on budget, and successfully delivered to the Amal West Oilfield. [12]

In-Country Value

Glasspoint introduced the concept of an enclosed trough to EOR

GlassPoint claims its technology can help oil operators free natural gas currently burned for EOR by up to 80%. This may be as great as LNG , thus increasing economic well-being. EOR industries can generate significant societal value as well.

Awards

  • Platts Global Energy Awards 2011 . Commercial Technology of the Year Award [13]
  • Oil & Gas Middle East Awards 2013 . Enhanced Oil Recovery Award [14]
  • MEED Quality Awards 2014 . Oman Sustainable Project of the Year [15]
  • MENASOL CSP Innovation Technology for MENA 2015 [16]
  • Oil & Gas Middle East 2016. Best EOR Project of the Year [17]
  • SolarPACES 2016. Technology Innovation Award [18]
  • World Economic Forum 2016. Technology Pioneer [19]
  • Shell Upstream International 2016. Impact Award for Safety & Environment [20]
  • ADIPEC 2015. Best Oil and Gas Innovation or Technology [21]
  • MENASOL 2017. CSP Technology Innovation [22]

See also

  • Enhanced oil recovery
  • Solar thermal enhanced oil recovery
  • Solar thermal energy
  • Petroleum Development Oman
  • Miraah
  • Parabolic Trough
  • Concentrated Solar Power
  • Low-carbon fuel standard

References

  1. Jump up^ “Solar Heat for Oil Wells” . The Economist . August 13, 2011 . Retrieved 15 August 2013 .
  2. Jump up^ Helman, Christopher. “Oil from the Sun” . Forbes . Retrieved 15 August 2013 .
  3. Jump up^ Goossens, Ehren (3 October 2011). “Chevron Uses Solar-Thermal Steam to Extract OIl in California” . Bloomberg . Retrieved 15 August2013 .
  4. Jump up^ “GlassPoint Solar Raises $ 26M” . PE Hub . Retrieved 15 August2013 .
  5. Jump up^ Doom, Justin (8 September 2014). “Glasspoint Gets $ 53 Mln Led Financing by Shell, Oman” . Bloomberg .
  6. Jump up^ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/glasspoint-solar
  7. Jump up^ Cox, John. “Solar oil project debuts in Kern” . The Californian Bakersfield . Retrieved 15 August 2013 .
  8. Jump up^ Mahdi, Wael (21 May 2013). “GlassPoint Solar Sees Interest from Middle East Oil Firms” . Bloomberg . Retrieved 15 August 2013 .
  9. Jump up^ “Performance of an Enclosed Trough EOR System in South Oman”(PDF) . SolarPACES. September 2013 . Retrieved 27 June 2014 .
  10. Jump up^ “Construction, Operations and Performance of the First Enclosed Trough Solar Steam Generation Pilot for EOR Applications” (PDF) . Society of Petroleum Engineering. March 2013 . Retrieved 27 June 2014 .
  11. Jump up^ Helman, Christopher (8 July 2015). “Ironic Gold Economic? Oil Giant To Build World’s Largest Solar Project” . Forbs . Retrieved 8 July 2015 .
  12. Jump up^ “Petroleum Development Oman and GlassPoint Announce Commencement of Steam Delivery From Miraah Solar Plan” .
  13. Jump up^ “2011 Platts Global Energy Awards” . Retrieved August 15, 2013 .
  14. Jump up^ Winners of the 2013 OGME Awards , Arabian Oil and Gas , Retrieved June 27, 2014
  15. Jump up^ Oman Sustainable Project of the Year , Middle East Economic Digest, retrieved June 27, 2014
  16. Jump up^ Oman Sustainable Project of the Year , Zawya , retrieved July 9, 2015
  17. Jump up^ “Oil & Gas Awards” . www.arabianoilandgas.com . Retrieved 2017-08-21 .
  18. Jump up^ “Awards” . www.solarpaces.org . Retrieved 2017-08-21 .
  19. Jump up^ “World Economic Forum GlassPoint Names a Technology Pioneer” . us3.campaign-archive2.com . Retrieved 2017-08-21 .
  20. Jump up^ “Shell GlassPoint and PDO awards” . us3.campaign-archive1.com . Retrieved 2017-08-21 .
  21. Jump up^ “Best Oil & Gas Innovation or Technology 2015 (ADIPEC)” .
  22. Jump up^ “MENA New Energy 2017” . MENA New Energy 2017 . Retrieved 2017-08-21 .

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