Home-furnishings retailer Ikea is building a wind farm in Sweden to provide enough electricity to power 17 of its stores in the country.
The project will include nine wind turbines located in the centrally located Dalarna County.
The wind farm takes Ikea one step closer to its goal of heating and cooling its facilities with 100% renewable power. This is the first wind farm that IKEA is developing from the ground up.
In 2009, Ikea bought three wind farms in France from Wolkswind and six German wind farms from Gamesa (GAM.MC). The retailer currently owns 52 wind turbines which generate the equivalent of about 10% of Ikea Group’s total energy use, the company says.
Stockholm-based wind power developer O2 Vind AB is building the wind farm for Ikea. It is schedule to begin operation in early 2012.
A company spokeswoman told Bloomberg the cost of the wind farm will be “several hundred million kronor” (100 million is about US$15.6 million) and that the company may expand the idea to other markets.
In August 2010, Ikea collaborated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to install a massive geothermal heating and cooling system in a new store in Denver, Colorado.
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