Ikea buys into planned Australian wind farm in renewables push

THE investment arm of Ingka Group, which owns most of the world’s Ikea stores, has bought a stake in a planned Australian wind farm as it seeks long-term access to renewable energy. The Netherlands-based firm has acquired a 15 per cent holding in the first stage of a A$2 billion (S$1.89 billion), 756-megawatt wind project in Victoria state, Ingka Investments said in a statement on Thursday (Feb 2). The TagEnergy Golden Plains Wind Farm is the company’s first significant move into utility scale renewable energy in Australia. Ingka Group, which owns more than 370 Ikea stores worldwide, said last year that it’s increasing investments in green energy projects to 6.5 billion euros (S$9.4 billion) by 2030. The company already generates more renewable energy than it consumes across its global operations, according to the statement on Thursday. The initial phase of the Australian wind farm consists of 122 turbines that are expected to produce over 2,000-gigawatt hours of electricity per year, the company said, adding that it would be able to claim as much as 15 per cent of the power produced. BLOOMBERG