The steam will be used in thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to extract heavy and viscous oil at the Amal oilfield. Miraah will deliver the largest peak energy output of any solar plant in the world. The scope of this landmark project underscores the massive market for deploying solar in the oil and gas industry.

The plant will provide a sustainable solution for EOR steam, which is currently produced by burning natural gas. Once complete, Miraah will save 5.6 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) of natural gas each year, the amount of gas that could be used to provide residential electricity to 209,000 people in Oman.

The project will generate an average of 6,000 tons of solar steam daily for oil production, dwarfing all other solar EOR installations. The system will deliver steam to Amal’s existing thermal EOR operations, meeting a sizable portion of the field’s steam demand. ​

The full-scale project will comprise 36 glasshouse modules, built and commissioned in succession in groups of four. The total project area, including all supporting infrastructure, will span three-square kilometres, an area equivalent to more than 360 football pitches.

Construction on the poject began in October 2015 with steam generation from the first glasshouse module expected in 2017. Once complete, Miraah will deliver more energy to the customer than any other solar plant in the world. The project is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by over 300,000 tons annually, the equivalent of taking 63,000 cars off the road.

PDO has been working with GlassPoint since 2010 on a successful pilot scheme at Amal to test the commercial viability of solar steam which produced 50 tons of steam a day. The seven megawatt solar steam pilot will continue to operate at Amal alongside the full-scale development.

Miraah has the potential to generate significant value for Oman, creating new opportunities in supply chain development, manufacturing capability, and employment and training. Plans to localise the supply chain are currently under development, including establishing a local manufacturing factory in Oman.