Hydro Aluminum North America Forms New Unit Focused on Solar Industry

Hydro?s Extrusion Americas Unit (Linthicum, MD) has created a dedicated business team to provide solar equipment makers and solar power-generation companies with expertise in the engineering and fabrication of extruded aluminum components for solar power generation.

Because of its design flexibility, high strength-to-weight ratio, machinability and corrosion resistance, extruded aluminum is the material of choice for utility-scale solar plants, as well as frames and mounts for photovoltaic installations in commercial and residential applications.

Based at Hydro?s Phoenix facility, the new team will be led by Allan Bennett, recently named vice president, solar market development. Bennett was formerly vice president, sales and marketing, for Hydro?s Extrusion Americas West region.

Joining Bennett on the solar team is Kwame Yeboah, who was recently hired as director of development for solar marketing. Yeboah has more than 20 years? experience in the renewable energy market. Before joining Hydro, Yeboah was a renewable energy specialist, providing strategy, analysis, consulting and advisory services to public- and private-sector companies. Previously he was director of Solargenix Energy?s packaged systems unit. Yeboah holds degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics from MIT and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Richard Foote has also been named to the team, as director of program management. Foote has been with Hydro?s Phoenix operation for 20 years in a variety of operational roles. He will lead project execution, including production coordination, project logistics, site support and inventory management.

"Creating this ?center of competence? allows us to leverage Hydro?s physical and intellectual assets to solve solar customers? challenges,? said Lynn Brown, vice president of sales and marketing for Hydro Aluminum North America. ?We have talented people and valuable organizational experience that qualify Hydro not just as a supplier, but as a true partner to solar field developers, PV panel manufacturers, commercial energy producers and first-tier suppliers. In addition, we are committed to producing extruded components with high recycled content using Hydro?s proprietary remelt technology, so we can deliver an environmentally appropriate product for this environmentally beneficial energy source.?

The Extrusion Americas unit of Hydro provided fabricated aluminum frame components for the 64-MW Nevada Solar One generating station, which came online in 2007. Currently the third largest solar generating station in the world, Nevada Solar One is the largest solar plant constructed in North America in 17 years. It is regarded as state-of-the-art in concentrated (thermal) solar power production.

The Extrusion Americas unit has recently completed supplying similar extruded aluminum components to Acciona SA, a Spanish energy company, for a 50-MW solar trough plant in Badajoz, Spain, and is currently supplying framing materials for two additional 50-MW facilities in Spain. Hydro?s components are used to construct framework for mounting the parabolic mirrors in the solar thermal facilities.

www.hydro.com/northamerica