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.”
Source: http://cleantechnica.com/2014/11/29/ikea-group-purchases-165-mw-wind-farm-texas-largest-renewable-energy-investment-made-ikea-date/
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