IKEA Group Purchases 165 MW Wind Farm In Texas — Largest Renewable Energy Investment Made By IKEA To Date
The IKEA Group has purchased a 165 MW wind farm in Cameron County, Texas, according to recent reports.
This marks the second time that the group has purchased a wind farm in the United States from Apex Clean Energy, and represents the biggest renewable energy investment made the group to date, worldwide. Given IKEA’s massive investments and leadership in renewable energy, that’s big news.
The purchase represents a pretty significant move towards the achievement of the IKEA Group’s goal of producing at least as much energy via renewable energy as the company uses every year globally. The new wind farm — the Cameron Wind Farm — is currently expected to be operational by the end of 2015.
This investment follows pretty closely on the news of IKEA’s purchase of its first US wind farm — a project in Hoopeston, Illinois — which was made earlier this year. This new wind farm will be roughly 1.5 times the size of that project, though — representing a notably larger investment. Together, the two projects will generate roughly 1,000 GW-hours of electricity per year — roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of about 90,000 American households.
As it stands currently, IKEA has already committed to the purchase and operation of 279 wind turbines, across nine countries. By the end of 2015, a total of $1.9 billion will have been invested in wind and solar power.
Mark Kenber, CEO of the nonprofit organization The Climate Group, commented: “IKEA was one of the first major companies to recognize that tackling climate change makes good business sense. IKEA has set commendable renewable energy targets for its own company, and its actions are positively influencing business practices and the energy market. It has played an instrumental role in setting up ‘RE100’, The Climate Group’s global initiative to support businesses in switching to 100% renewable power.”
The press release provides a bit more:
IKEA renewable energy investments in the US to date now include: 104 wind turbines located on wind farms in Hoopeston and Cameron; 165,000 solar panels installed on 90% of IKEA buildings across the US, providing an additional 38 MW installed capacity; and geothermal integrated into the heating and cooling systems of two US store locations, in Centennial, Colorado, and Merriam, Kansas.
Cameron Wind is located in a particularly favorable wind area in the south of Texas, which is the leading state in the US for wind energy production. The wind farm will be fully owned by the IKEA Group and will be constructed and managed by renewable energy company Apex Clean Energy. The project will use 55 Acciona 3-MW turbines.
“Apex is excited to partner with IKEA once again to bring clean, renewable energy from wind to market in the US,” added Apex President Mark Goodwin. “Both companies understand that this abundant resource is great for the planet, great for our business and great for our shared future.”
Related:
IKEA Wind Farm To Cover 165% Of IKEA’s US Electricity Consumption
IKEA Expanding Solar Panel Sales to Eight Countries
IKEA Gets Unsubsidized Rooftop Solar Power Plant In Italy
US Commercial Solar Energy Continues Gaining Steam
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
