Sustainable mounting systems for PV panels.

Cooperation in the chain

As a sector, the steel industry is responsible for some 9% of total CO2 emissions worldwide. This also implies that there are a lot of gains to be made here when it comes to making society more sustainable. KS Service Center and sister company KS Systems are two steel processing companies dedicated in driving sustainability in the sector. This has led to a chain collaboration with steel producer ArcelorMittal and Van der Valk Solar Systems to market sustainably produced ballast and roof racks for solar panels. From steelworks, through transport to manufacturing and assembly, these chain partners have reduced their CO2 emissions through their close collaboration.

"This is just the beginning," says Gregory Rombaut, Sales and Marketing Manager for KS Service Center of Moerdijk. "With more chain collaborations like this, we want to bring more and more items made of sustainable steel to market. We see that Environmental Product Declarations - the Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) that reflect the environmental impact of a product throughout its entire life cycle - are becoming more and more important in market participants' requests. In addition, sustainably produced steel is becoming an important marketing tool. We are already anticipating this by addressing this with the chain and by encouraging each other to make processes and products more sustainable." 

XCarb®

That starts with the factor with the greatest environmental impact: steel production. Rombaut: "Our chain partner ArcelorMittal has been supplying sustainable steels under the name XCarb® since 2022. The standard version is steel with the EPD of ordinary steel that is DNV-certified because CO2-saving measures have been taken throughout the production process. With this, we aim to achieve a company-level CO2 reduction of 82.2% with KS Service Center, KS Systems and Van der Valk Solar Systems."

Tape steel

The chain cooperation runs from ArcelorMittal, via KS Service Center and KS Systems to Van der Valk Solar Systems, which uses XCarb® steel for solar panel ballast and roof supports. Rombaut: "KS Service Center is a steel processing company that buys coils from the manufacturer and makes sheets and strip steel from them in widths from 25 to 1,585 mm wide. We supply galvanized strip steel to KS Systems, which processes it into custom profiles. These are basically ready-made parts that Van der Valk Solar Systems uses to build its PV systems. You can also use the lighter aluminum for that, but galvanized steel is cheaper and more durable." 

Example

KS Industries, the group of companies of which KS Service Center is part, has great ambitions in terms of sustainability. Rombaut: "The steel industry must drastically reduce its CO2 footprint, the sector owes it to the world to contribute to a healthier climate. We are therefore fully committed to selling green steel that is not only certified, but that as a product is actually made sustainably. In doing so, we also want to help our customers save CO2 and, where possible, become completely CO2-free. Because at the moment it is simply still a bit more expensive. Yet more and more companies are crossing the line, because it's not just about costs. Invitations to tender are often won these days precisely because - among other things - sustainable steel is used. At trade fairs I visited recently, greening was everywhere what was ringing the bell. People are increasingly aware that poor EPD scores will soon put you out of business. Moreover, import taxes on polluting steel are already high. Van de Valk Solar Systems, a company we have worked with for quite some time, has long understood this. In any case, we are very happy with our chain cooperation and hope that it may serve as an example."