Mashable: The new plant will help the mining company cut carbon emissions by almost 600,000 tons per year.

MA'ADEN, a Saudi Arabian mining company, and GlassPoint, a solar energy solutions provider based in the United States, have signed an initial agreement to develop the world's largest solar-powered steam plant at the former's refinery.

The project aims to contribute to the de-carbonization of the energy-intensive, coal-dependent process of making aluminium, which is used in our phones, computers, automobiles, and other items.

According to Arab News, the new plant will help the mining company cut carbon emissions by almost 600,000 tons per year.

MA’ADEN Solar 1

The MA'ADEN Solar 1 solar thermal plant will be built near Ras al Khair, Saudi Arabia, and will use the sun's energy to generate steam.

GlassPoint will provide industrial solar steam to MA'ADEN as part of the deal, which will be used to produce aluminium at a bauxite refinery.

Most refineries use coal or gas to boil water for the steam used in refining bauxite, which is the first stage while producing aluminium. GlassPoint, on the other hand, will employ large curved mirrors hung within greenhouses to reflect sunlight onto pipes, allowing the water inside to boil and produce steam.

The world's largest industrial solar steam plant

Solar-generated steam will replace half of the fossil-fired steam currently used by the refinery once the new 1,500-megawatt solar thermal facility at the company's refinery is completed, reducing carbon emissions by more than 600,000 tons annually and assisting the mining company in meeting its sustainability goals.

As reported by the Arab News, Rod MacGregor, CEO and founder of GlassPoint, said to Fast Company, "This facility when built will be the largest industrial solar steam plant in the world and the first deployed in both Saudi Arabia and in the aluminium supply chain.”

The tides are changing for the entire industry as these two companies collaborate to establish a more sustainable business model.

Apple, for example, has been collaborating with Rio Tinto and Alcoa, two major aluminium suppliers, to demonstrate a new carbon-free smelting technology that generates oxygen rather than CO2, playing a key role in a venture that has the potential to transform global manufacturing.