Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and GlassPoint Solar have inaugurated the Miraah solar plant, located at the Amal oilfield in the south of Oman, which will be among the world?s largest solar projects on completion
Four blocks of the plant have now been constructed safely, on time and on budget with steam production integrated with the Amal network, said a company statement.
Undersecretary of Oman?s Ministry of Oil and Gas Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi said, ?Today marks an important milestone for Oman as it further cements its position as the regional leader in energy convergence, uniting renewable and conventional energy industries.
?Deploying solar on Oman?s oilfields to reduce the industry?s natural gas consumption has a significant and lasting economic benefit for the sultanate,? he said.
Miraah will generate real in-country value (ICV) and create job opportunities for Omanis, largely from future supply chain development and gas savings directed to other industries.
He added that the project, which stands to be among the largest solar projects in the world, has contributed to developing local Omani talent in the renewable energy field and created job opportunities for local companies.
Miraah?s construction has progressed on schedule with 1.9mn safe man-hours completed without a Lost Time Incident (LTI) since the project started in 2015. The first four blocks were commissioned successfully and the facility is now in daily operation delivering steam to the Amal oilfield. The four blocks have a total capacity of over 100 MWt and will deliver 660 tonnes of steam per day, providing significant gas savings.
Once complete, the one gigawatt installation will consist of 36 blocks built in a sequence, which allows PDO to benefit from solar steam now and gradually ramp-up production over time to meet the Amal oilfield?s steam demand. The project is on track to deliver an additional eight blocks in early 2019.
Raoul Restucci, managing director, PDO, said, ?For our company, Miraah represents an important step in our journey to become a fully-fledged energy company, as well as placing the sultanate firmly on the global renewable energy map with this pioneering project,? he added.
GlassPoint?s solar technology was specifically designed to harness the sun?s energy to generate the steam required for thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR), seamlessly integrating into existing oilfield operations. The natural gas saved by using GlassPoint?s technology can be exported or directed toward higher-value applications such as power generation or industrial development, helping to diversify the economy.
GlassPoint?s partnership with PDO began over seven years ago when they built the first solar EOR project in the Middle East. The seven MWt pilot project proved the effectiveness and cost efficiency of GlassPoint?s technology and led to significant learnings and design improvements.
