The energy association Energiegenossenschaft ADEV has taken an important step in signing a leasing contract with Stahl Gerlafingen to construct a solar power system with a yield of 2 megawatts on the roof of the rolling mill. With this, the second-largest system, ADEV again confirms their role as a strong partner for industrial enterprises.
The ADEV group has its headquarters in Liestal, and for a long time has been in demand as a producer of green electricity and the sustainable supply of energy to buildings. The group is organised as a cooperative and already operates roughly 100 solar power systems. Now ADEV has defined another milestone: The construction of a 2 megawatt system on the roof of the rolling mill hall at Stahl Gerlafingen in the canton of Solothurn.
The leasing contract between ADEV and the industrial enterprise has been signed, and now the way is clear for starting construction in the beginning of the coming year. From April 2024, the system is supposed to deliver two million kilowatt-hours of environmentally friendly electrical energy every year. Stahl Gerlafingen will use the entire solar power in its own production.
Head of the project Pascal Moser at ADEV says:
“The advantage of our solution is that the company does not have to make any investment and receives clean electricity at favoured conditions.”
The system comprises around 4,500 modules which can easily be installed on the slightly sloping tin roof. Special light-weight supporting constructions were chosen to stay within the maximum possible load of the giant roof. Due to its exceptional size, the regional energy provider will integrate the system directly into its network.
With approx. 540 employees, Stahl Gerlafingen produces each year roughly 700,000 tonnes of reinforcing and sectional steel from iron scrap metal. This makes the company the largest recycling company in Switzerland and contributes to supporting a circular economy in the country.
Alain Creteur, CEO of Stahl Gerlafingen, explains:
“Steel is a special raw material that can be recycled forever and therefore is sustainable by nature. However, its production demands a high consumption of energy.”
Transport and smelting processes however cause significant carbon emissions. The AFV Beltrame Group, headquartered in Italy, is the owner of the Swiss steel mill and has set itself the goal of reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases by 40 percent until 2030, and to increase their use of green electricity. The ADEV system represents an important step towards reaching this goal.
