A collaboration between Woodside Petroleum and Bill Gates-backed Heliogen to build an AI solar energy system has progressed to the procurement stage.
A collaboration between Woodside Petroleum and Bill Gates-backed Heliogen to build an artificial intelligence solar energy system has progressed to the procurement stage.
The energy giant announced it had given Heliogen the all clear to begin securing equipment for a five megawatt demonstration facility to showcase the company’s solar energy system in California.
Heliogen, which touts support from Bill Gates’ venture capital firm Gates Ventures, describes the technology as a modular, AI-enabled system that aims to generate energy from solar power 24/7.
The technology uses computer vision software to align mirrors which then reflect sunlight to a solar tower, enabling storage in the form of thermal energy.
Heliogen says future customers can then draw on this industrial grade heat by adding thermal energy storage systems, turbines for power generation or electrolysers for green hydrogen production.
Heliogen chief executive officer Bill Gross says the technology aims to close the cost gap in solar technologies.
“Although costs of large-scale solar are falling, conventional solar technologies are not yet cost-competitive with fossil fuels in most energy markets due to their intermittent availability,” Mr Gross explained.
“As the energy sector is ripe for applications of green hydrogen fuels and decarbonisation strategies, Woodside is an ideal collaborator for our breakthrough solar technology, which will support the operational characteristics of heavy industry,”
Today’s announcement follows a six month feasibility study and front-end engineering design contract between the partnership that commenced earlier this year.
Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill said the technology could play a key role in developing the company’s hydrogen business.
“This is a significant step toward the development of our first facility with Heliogen, which we hope will be just the start of our ongoing collaboration,” Ms O'Neill said.
The companies also laid plans to jointly market their venture in the US and Australia and have hinted at replicating and scaling the solar technology to be used in Woodside’s operations internationally.
“We are also excited about the marketing rights for Heliogen’s technology in Australia, where our abundant solar energy resources support application of this technology in remote power generation and other industrial processes.”
The companies expect full notice to proceed and construction to begin in 2022.
