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Miraah is a
Miraah will be one of the world's largest solar plants, with a solar thermal capacity of 1,021 MW. Construction on the project began in October 2015, with first steam produced in November 2017. A few months later, in February 2018, the facility was officially inaugurated. The project has a daily steam output of up to 6,000 tons, translating into annual gas savings of and annual emission savings of 300,000 tons.
The 1 GWth project will reduce the amount of natural gas used to generate steam for 
The enclosed trough solar field uses curved mirrors to focus sunlight – rather than using heat from burning natural gas – onto a pipe filled with water. The concentrated sunlight boils the water to create steam, which is fed directly to the oilfield's existing steam distribution network.
In November 2017, GlassPoint and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) completed construction on the first block of the Miraah solar plant safely on schedule and on budget, and successfully delivered steam to the Amal West oilfield.
solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors.
Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United St ...
plant that is under construction in Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
for the production of steam for solar thermal enhanced oil recovery
Solar thermal enhanced oil recovery (abbreviated solar EOR) is a form of thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a technique applied by oil producers to extract more oil from maturing oil fields. Solar EOR uses solar thermal arrays to concentrate the ...
. In July 2015, Petroleum Development Oman
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the leading exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman. The Company delivers the majority of the country's crude oil production and natural gas supply. The company is owned by the Government of ...
and GlassPoint Solar announced that they signed a $600 million agreement to build the 1 GWth solar field. The project will be one of the world's largest solar field measured by peak thermal capacity.
The plant uses large mirrors
A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...
to focus sunlight and convert oilfield water into steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
, which is then used to extract viscous or heavy oil from the ground. This method is used as an alternative to steam generated from the burning of natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
.
Overview
Miraah will be one of the world's largest solar plants, with a solar thermal capacity of 1,021 MW. Construction on the project began in October 2015, with first steam produced in November 2017. A few months later, in February 2018, the facility was officially inaugurated. The project has a daily steam output of up to 6,000 tons, translating into annual gas savings of and annual emission savings of 300,000 tons.
The 1 GWth project will reduce the amount of natural gas used to generate steam for thermal
A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...
enhanced oil recovery
Enhanced oil recovery (abbreviated EOR), also called tertiary recovery, is the extraction of crude oil from an oil field that cannot be extracted otherwise. EOR can extract 30% to 60% or more of a reservoir's oil, compared to 20% to 40% using ...
(EOR). In thermal EOR, steam is injected into an oil reservoir to heat the oil, making it easier to pump to the surface. Miraah will generate an average of 6,000 tons of solar steam each day, providing a substantial portion of the steam required at the Amal oilfield operated by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).
The enclosed trough solar field uses curved mirrors to focus sunlight – rather than using heat from burning natural gas – onto a pipe filled with water. The concentrated sunlight boils the water to create steam, which is fed directly to the oilfield's existing steam distribution network.
In November 2017, GlassPoint and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) completed construction on the first block of the Miraah solar plant safely on schedule and on budget, and successfully delivered steam to the Amal West oilfield.
References
{{Portal, Oman, Energy Solar power Energy infrastructure in Oman