The solar farm will consist of more than 231,000 panels and will generate 80 MW of power, making it one of the largest behind-the-meter solar facilities in the United States.

Gerdau announced the project last summer with partners 174 Power Global and TotalEnergies. As part of the development contract, the steelmaker signed a 20-year agreement to purchase the power generated by the facility for its Midlothian operations.

“Sustainability is core to Gerdau and our Midlothian facility, and we look forward to using the green energy generated by the Gerdau Solar project to reduce our environmental footprint and bring long-lasting economic benefits to Midlothian,” said Chia Yuan Wang, president of Gerdau Long Steel North America.

Gerdau and its partners expect construction of the solar farm to wrap up by the summer of 2023.

Read the full press release here.