We reported a few months ago about IKEA’s interest and investment in wind energy: IKEA Portfolio. It seems that it wasn’t just a flash in the pan… Ikea’s has made another wind farm purchase just three months after the last. How long before each Ikea furniture store has a signature turbine in blue and yellow on its roof?
The place? Oldman 2, Alberta, Canada. The turbines? Siemens SWT-2.3 each with a height of 80 metres and a blade length of 49 metres. The Company Mainstream is building the wind farm and will operate it for its lifecycle. The deal also includes a long-term service and maintenance agreement by Siemens. The project is wholly owned by IKEA (Canada), making it the largest wind farm owned by a Canadian retailer.
Oldman 2 is a 46 MW installation being constructed at Pincher Creek in southern Alberta and the farm will generate 161-gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity each year, equivalent to the annual average electricity consumption of 13,500 Canadian households. The site will be ready for commissioning in Autumn 2014.
Alberta is Canada’s third-largest wind power market behind Ontario and Quebec, with 1,117 MW installed representing nearly 17 percent of the nation’s installed capacity for wind power.
Kerri Molinaro is the President of IKEA Canada. He said:
“IKEA Canada’s investment in renewable energy is a win-win-win. We are able to support the transition to a low-carbon future, reduce our energy and operating costs and pass those benefits on to our customers by continuing to offer high-quality home furnishings at low prices. This wind farm in Alberta, along with existing solar installations at three of our Ontario stores, is a significant step to achieving IKEA’s global ambition to be energy independent by 2020, producing more renewable energy than we consume.”
At present, there are 298 IKEA Group stores in 26 countries. IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943. The IKEA Group employs 139 000 co-workers and had 690 million visitors during FY12. The retail furniture giant, which has made a high profile commitment to power its operations using entirely clean energy sources by 2020, has also committed to acquiring 46MW worth of projects from the company Mainstream Renewable Power, providing it with access to the energy it generates.
Mainstream Renewable Power’s chief executive, Eddie O’Connor, said
“This wind farm will deliver power to the Alberta grid at the prevailing market price and is a clear demonstration that a wind generation is a viable form of electricity production and one that cannot be ignored.”
This is the second wind farm IKEA has agreed to purchase from Mainstream Renewable Power, has announced the signing of a deal for the Carrickeeny Wind Farm in Ireland in August. Wind energy is a key part of IKEA Group’s sustainability strategy to generate as much renewable energy as it consumes by 2020.
Mainstream Renewable Power declares itself as one of the world’s leading independent developers of renewable energy projects. With a development pipeline of over 19GW globally it is currently constructing solar and wind farms across Ireland, South Africa, Chile and Canada.
Ikea Canada Sustainability Manager Brendan Seale, right, was joined by Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes, centre and Mainstream Renewable Power Commerical Manager for North America Saad Qais to announce Ikea’s purchase of the Oldman 2 wind farm near Pincher Creek on November 14, 2013.
