Balta Group Planning Huge Solar Installation

Sint-Baafs-Vijve, Belgium, Sept. 22, 2009--The Balta Group plans to use 88,000 square meters of roof area at its factory in Sint-Baafs-Vijve for a project which will be the largest solar energy installation on a factory roof in the Benelux region.

The total roof area of all Balta branches in Belgium alone amounts to 61 hectares or 610,000 square meters.

"So there is still plenty of potential for additional projects in the future," says Jules Noten, CEO of the Balta Group.

Enfinity (Waregem), international player in renewable energy, has started with the installation.

This autumn more than 18,000 solar panels will be installed on the factory roof with a total panel surface of some 30,000 square meters.

The installation will have a capacity of 4.2 MWp (megawatt peak). The solar panels will deliver an average power output of 3.6 million KW hours per year.

"This is equivalent to the power consumption of 1,200 families," said Mike Top, Energy Manager of the Balta Group.
 
Balta will be able to utilize a part of the green energy for its own business activities. Any surplus can flow back to the public grid.

Enfinity rents Balta’s roof and by means of a building lease for 20 years places solar panels on it. Besides the rental income, Balta has the advantage of a cheaper and stable power bill.