Heliogen said the funds will be used to develop multiple Sunlight Refinery facilities - the company's sunlight concentration facilities can generate temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees Celsius.
"Heliogen is providing steel producers with an exciting new technology which could make a valuable contribution to cutting carbon emissions," said Pinakin Chaubal, Chief Technology Officer, ArcelorMittal. "Its technology holds the potential to complement our existing decarbonisation initiatives and efforts to secure a more sustainable footprint for our company."
The company recently closed $83 million in funding, an oversubscribed round that is in addition to $25 million raised in the previous round. Other investors include Edison International, venture capital firm Prime Movers Lab and Canada-based privately held venture capital fund Ocgrow Ventures.
Heliogen said its system will provide industrial-grade heat that capable of replacing fossil fuels in processes including the production of cement, petrochemicals and steel.
In March 2021, Heliogen and Rio Tinto agreed to trial Heliogen‘s technology at Rio Tinto's borates mine in Boron, California.
LA-based Heliogen's solar technology uses AI to control a network of mirrors that concentrate sunlight to capture energy.
The high-temperature solar technology generates steam, with the captured heat used to power nighttime operations, for instance. The Boron site currently generates steam using a natural gas cogeneration plant and natural gas-fired boilers.
"This infusion of new support for Heliogen comes at a time when the paradigm shift toward clean energy is even further accelerated by the new realities the world is facing," said Bill Gross, CEO and founder, Heliogen. "We're being granted the resources to do more projects that address the most carbon-intensive human activities and work toward our goals of lowering the price and emissions of energy for everyone on the planet. We thank all of our investors for enabling us to pursue our mission and offer the world technology that will allow it to achieve a post-carbon economy."
