Research in recent years has demonstrated the efficient use of solar thermal energy for driving endothermic chemical reforming reactions in which hydrocarbons are reacted to form syngas. An important example of these processes is the endothermic steam-gasification of petroleum derivatives to syngas. This process produces not only a highly useful and transportable end product, but also results in the storage of a significant fraction of solar energy in the chemical bonds of the fuel molecules. An initiative is started in 2005 with the goal to develop and test a 500 kW plant for steam gasification of petcoke. The project is a joint cooperation between the company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich / Switzerland, and the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medio Ambientales y Tecnológicas (Ciemat) in Spain. In a first step, after performing in-depth studies of the thermodynamic and kinetic behaviour, a small 5 kW prototype was tested in the Solar Furnace of PSI / Switzerland. Goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of the solar gasification, to determine critical process parameters, to identify possible difficulties, and finally to get a solid data base for the scale up step in phase 2. In phase 2, the design, construction, and operation of a 500 kW reactor are foreseen. Operation will be done at the SSPS-tower at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (SPAIN) during 2008. This report summarizes the major accomplishments and challenges of upscaling the installation at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (Fig. 1).