Ikea has purchased its first wind farm in the United States, the largest of the company’s renewable energy investments to date and a strong effort toward reaching its goal of creating as much renewable energy as it consumes by 2020.
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kea US purchased a 98-megawatt wind farm, Hoopeston Wind, in Hoopeston, Ill., the company announced in a news release Thursday.
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The project is being built by Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville, Va., and is expected to be operational in 2015.
Rob Olson, Ikea US chief financial officer, announced the wind farm purchase at a task force meeting focused on climate change.
“We are committed to renewable energy and to running our business in a way that minimizes our carbon emissions, not only because of the environmental impact, but also because it makes good financial sense,” said Olson in the release. “We invest in our own renewable energy sources so that we can control our exposure to fluctuating electricity costs and continue providing great value to our customers.”
The Ikea release said Hoopeston Wind is projected to create 380 gigawatt hours of renewable energy every year, the amount of electricity needed to run 34,000 average American homes. That is 18 percent of the electricity used by the company worldwide, and 165 percent of the electricity used by Ikea US.
Ikea, a Swedish company, is expanding in the United States and will open three stores in the next two years. The company currently operates 38 stores, five distribution centers, two service centers, and one factory.
The Ikea investment was well received by many who believe more should be done to focus on clean energy sources.
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