SMA board member Chia Yuan Wang, president of Gerdau North America, and Christopher Seymour, superintendent of Gerdau’s medium section mill in Midlothian, Texas, last week took part in a ceremony marking the commercialization of SB Energy’s Orion I, Orion II and Orion III solar projects (known as the “Orion Solar Belt”) in Milam County, Texas.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, state and local officials, American suppliers, anchor customer Google, and investors also joined the celebration.

“I am honored to be here today with our project partners and invited guests to celebrate the ribbon cutting for these exciting projects. Gerdau was proud to supply the steel for the Orion Solarbelt projects from our mills in Midlothian, Texas, and Cartersville, Georgia,” Wang told the gathering. “Today, the U.S. steel industry is the least carbon-intensive among all major steel-producing countries. … Our footprint will continue to improve as the power grid uses more renewable energy sources.”

According to SB Energy, the Orion Solar Belt totals 875 MWdc of energy capacity. It comprises steel made by Gerdau North America and over 1.3 million American-made modules. The projects that make up the Orion Solar Belt are expected to be among the first projects to qualify for the domestic content bonus credit enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act.