It was announced on Monday (August 8) that the firms will utilise Heliogen’s concentrated solar thermal demonstration facility in Lancaster, California, US, to convert sunlight into thermal energy to produce green hydrogen for Dimensional Energy’s reactor platform.

Read more: The new way to power the planet

As part of the collaboration, the LOI includes a goal of building an integrated circa one barrel per day ‘drop-in ready’ SAF demonstration, with hopes of developing a pipeline of approximately three million barrels over the next decade.

It is hoped the Heliogen-Dimensional collaboration will aid the wide-spread deployment of SAF, supporting the decarbonisation for the aviation sector.

Heliogen revealed in 2021 a partnership with Bloom Energy which would see its solar thermal technology used to produce hydrogen with Bloom’s solid oxide electrolyser.

Read more: Bloom Energy, Heliogen to produce green hydrogen using only concentrated solar power and water

Bill Gross, founder and CEO of Heliogen, said, “At Heliogen, our mission is to decarbonise industry by delivering advanced renewable energy systems that are more affordable than fossil fuels and we are thrilled to collaborate with Dimensional Energy to advance the decarbonisation of the aviation industry.”

“Dimensional’s flexible thermal utilisation platform is the most scalable and cost effective solution, and when combined with Heliogen’s transformative concentrated solar technology, this partnership brings us one crucial step closer to a future where we can fly planes on fuel created by sunlight and air, not fossil fuels.”

Jason Salfi, co-founder and CEO of Dimensional Energy, commented, “This collaboration with Heliogen represents a key development in our vision of a world free from fossil fuel dependency.

“Leveraging Heliogen’s breakthrough technology to use sunlight to produce SAF will help demonstrate the potential for a truly carbon-free, more affordable, and drop-in replacement for conventional jet fuel.”