OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At a ribbon cutting ceremony today, Valmont Industries, Inc., a leading global provider of engineered products and services for infrastructure development and irrigation equipment and services for agriculture, celebrated the interconnection of its first one-megawatt solar field at its manufacturing facility in Valley, Nebraska.
“We are excited to improve our sustainability performance with the interconnection of this solar field, which is expected to produce 1.7 gigawatt hours of grid-independent power annually for our Valley facility,” said Stephen G. Kaniewski, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Using our own Valmont solar tracker technology, the field will provide the Valley campus with six percent of its electricity needs.”
The new solar array is the largest privately-owned, behind-the-grid solar field in Nebraska, spanning 4.3 acres. Forty-five tracker tables supplied by Convert, a Valmont company, make up the array, featuring advanced technology that adjusts the angle of solar panels to the ideal orientation for renewable energy generation. Created with weather and natural disaster mitigation in mind, the array’s transformers and inverters are raised seven feet above the ground to guard against flooding and include railing and access systems galvanized at the Valmont Coatings facility in Valley to ensure long-term structural resiliency.
Valmont’s employees and leadership team hosted the ribbon cutting event with local community leaders, business partners, Omaha Public Power District CFO Javier Fernandez, and representatives from Interconnection Systems Inc., who installed the array, attending as guests. Governor Pete Ricketts and Valley Mayor Cindy Grove were also present to give remarks celebrating the occasion.
“Valmont continues to grow the Good Life by investing in Nebraska,” said Governor Pete Ricketts. “The newly built solar field in Valley showcases Valmont’s innovation and contributes to the diverse energy resources we have in our state.”
Kaniewski continued, “We are proud to operate the largest solar field of this kind in the state of Nebraska, and commemorate this achievement safely with our community. Valmont has a 75-year history of conserving water, energy and raw materials and this latest achievement reinforces our commitment to innovating with sustainability in mind. Our goal is to conserve resources so that we can continue providing products and services that enhance the lives of customers, employees and communities locally and world-wide.”
About Valmont Industries, Inc.
Valmont® is a global leader, designing and manufacturing engineered products and services that support global infrastructure development and agricultural productivity. Its products for infrastructure serve highway, transportation, wireless communication, electric transmission, and industrial construction and energy markets. Its irrigation equipment and services for large-scale agriculture improves farm productivity while conserving fresh water resources. In addition, Valmont provides coatings services that protect against corrosion and improve the service lives of steel and other metal products. For more information, visit valmont.com.
