F
ormer steel plants are finding new leases on life around the U.S. as investors repurpose them for producing renewable energy equipment. A recent example is the reopening of the shuttered Bethlehem Steel manufacturing factory in Leetsdale, Pennsylvania, 11 miles northwest of Pittsburgh on the Ohio River. In June, Nextracker LLC, a leading producer of utility-scale solar trackers, and BCI Steel, a Pittsburgh-based steel fabricator, announced plans to produce solar tracker equipment for large-scale solar power plants at the site. (Another example, in Maryland, can be found in the Tradepoint Atlantic Investment Profile on page 204). Solar trackers adjust solar panels to remain perpendicular to the sun’s rays.
The steel plant will use BCI Steel’s new and reshored equipment shipped from a factory in Malaysia. Solar tracker products made in Leetsdale will serve rapidly growing…