GlassPoint Solar, the leading supplier of solar to the oil and gas industry, participated in the Middle East & North Africa Renewable Energy Conference (MENAREC) recently in Kuwait. GlassPoint highlighted the benefits of deploying solar energy on Kuwait’s oilfields to achieve the country’s energy and environmental goals.

Specifically designed for the oil and gas industry, GlassPoint’s technology uses the sun’s energy to produce the steam used in thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR), the leading method of extracting heavy oil. GlassPoint’s steam generators can reduce a field’s carbon emissions and the natural gas typically used to produce steam for EOR by up to 80 per cent.

Speaking on behalf of GlassPoint was May Alzanki, Kuwait’s Sales and Business Development Director. Presenting as part of the high-profile stakeholder session, Alzanki discussed how GlassPoint’s technology can save valuable gas resources and reduce production costs, offering significant benefits to local economies.

“As a country with abundant sunshine, substantial heavy oil reserves, and natural gas shortages, Kuwait can benefit immensely from adopting solar EOR,” explained Alzanki. “Solar energy can provide the steam required at the lowest cost, giving the country access to affordable energy for decades and reducing its reliance on imported gas. In times of low oil prices, such as those we’re experiencing today, it becomes increasingly important to optimize costs and implement sustainable production strategies.”

“GlassPoint’s enclosed trough technology has been proven to thrive in the harsh desert environment. Even though Kuwait’s high winds, dust, and sandstorms create a difficult operating environment for solar, GlassPoint’s technology has achieved and exceeded performance targets in similar conditions,” Alzanki added.

GlassPoint established a direct business in Kuwait in early 2014. GlassPoint’s Kuwait branch is led by Hussain Shehab, a 30-year KOC veteran that served as Deputy Managing Director overseeing the West Kuwait fields. He also served 10 years in the oil industry of the private sector.

The company’s regional headquarters is in the Sultanate of Oman, where GlassPoint is partnering with Petroleum Development Oman to build one of the world’s largest solar plants. The Miraah project is being built on a heavy oilfield in south Oman, alongside an existing pilot that’s been operating successfully for more than three years. Once complete, Miraah will produce more than 6,000 tons of steam per day and exceed more than one gigawatt in peak thermal energy.

GlassPoint Kuwait is a wholly owned subsidiary of GlassPoint Solar, a U.S. company whose major shareholders include Royal Dutch Shell and the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), the largest sovereign wealth fund in Oman.