GlassPoint Solar, a Fremont, CA-based provider of solar Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) solutions, raised US$53m in equity funding.
Backers included the State General Reserve Fund, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the Sultanate of Oman, Royal Dutch Shell’s Shell Technology Ventures and existing investors Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Nth Power and RockPort Capital. In conjunction with the investment, Hisham Al-Sheedi, Deputy Investment Manager, SGRF, and Peter de Wit, a Shell nominated independent director, joined GlassPoint Solar’s Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the deployment of its solar steam generators.
Led by Mr. Rod MacGregor, President & CEO, GlassPoint is a provider of solar steam generators to the oil and gas industry for applications such as Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). Its technology uses large, curved mirrors to concentrate sunlight on a boiler tube containing water. The concentrated energy boils the water to produce high-pressured steam, which is injected into an oil reservoir to heat heavy oil and boost production. GlassPoint encloses the system inside a glasshouse structure to protect the solar collectors from the wind, sand and dust common in Middle Eastern oilfields. An automated washing system cleans the glasshouse to maintain performance in the dusty desert environment and reduce operation and maintenance costs.
FinSMEs
08/09/2014