International mining company Rio Tinto and Heliogen, the renewable energy technology company backed by Bill Gates, announced an agreement to deploy Heliogen’s high-temperature, concentrated solar technology to provide clean, renewable energy to Rio Tinto’s Boron, California mine.
The mine supplies half of the global demand for refined borates, used in products ranging from fertilizers to construction materials.
Heliogen will use artificial intelligence (AI) and an array of 40,000 computer-vision controlled mirrors spread over an area in the Mojave Desert as large as 100 football fields, for the project.
It would be the first time concentrated solar is being used to power a mine in the U.S., maybe even the world.
By utilizing AI and advanced computer vision software, Heliogen is now able to focus the sunlight onto a single point with extreme precision, thereby generating much higher temperatures – around 1,000 degrees Celsius – than were possible with concentrated solar in the past.
Heliogen’s technology at scale is, for the first time, claimed to be efficient enough to make its ultra-high temperature heat and renewable fuels competitive with fossil fuels.
The high heat will be used to generate steam that in turn will be used to generate and store carbon-free energy to power the Boron mine’s operations. This will supplement the mine’s existing steam generation facility that uses a natural gas co-generation plant and natural gas-fired boilers.
Heliogen’s installation will reduce carbon emissions at the Boron site by around 7 percent.
“Our work with Heliogen is part of Rio Tinto’s commitment to spend approximately $1 billion on emissions reduction initiatives through to 2025 and our commitment to work with world-leading technology providers to achieve this goal,” said Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm.
“We’re also pleased that Rio Tinto is exploring our technology to play an important role in helping reach its sustainability goals while dramatically reducing its energy costs,” said Heliogen CEO and Founder Bill Gross said.
Read the release from Heliogen HERE.
Image of Heliogen’s Commercial Facility in Lancaster, California: Businesswire