Tata Steel to install 80,000 solar panels on IJmuiden factory

Tata Steel is building the largest rooftop solar park in the Netherlands by installing 80 thousand solar panels of the roofs of the factory complex in IJmuiden, the steel group announced on Wednesday. 

Tata Steel is working with energy supplier Pure Energie on this project, which will cost about 23 million euros. Pure Energie will carry this investment and supply power to Tata Steel, which will pay four to five cents per kilowatt-hour.

The construction of the solar park, which will cover a roof area of 25 hectares, will start in the spring of 2016. The solar panels will eventually produce 22 million kilowatt-hours per year, enough to supply some 7 thousand households. The generated energy will be used in steel making.

"Tata Steel aims to contribute to a more sustainable society" Hans Fischer, director of Tata Steel in IJmuiden, said in the press release. "I hope this project leads to imitation elsewhere in our country and beyond."