The Netherlands-based holding company of multinational retailer IKEA, the Ingka Group, has acquired a 49 per cent share in two US solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a combined capacity of 403MW. This aims to bolster the company’s transition to renewable energy.

In September 2019 group subsidiary Ingka Investments reached an agreement with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) to acquire 49 per cent stake in the two projects, taking over the Utah solar PV project on 31 December 2019, and the Texas project on 31 March.

With new investments set to continue and with further acquisitions planned in the US, the group is working towards its target for production to exceed consumption.

IKEA plans to transition to 100 per cent renewable energy across global operations and achieve climate positive status by 2025.

With a presence in 30 countries worldwide, the company says it will focus on renewable energy generation both on-site, as well as via utility-scale renewable project acquisitions.

Ingka Group will now have access to the production of 277 GWh of electricity – equivalent to the consumption of more than 50 IKEA Stores.

“Since 2009, Ingka Group has invested close to 2.5 billion euros in renewable energy. For us, investing in renewable energy is a part of our asset management strategy, as it fully supports our sustainability commitments,” said Krister Mattsson, managing director at Ingka Investments.

“We plan to continue with our future investment strategy and are focusing on countries where we do not have large scale renewable energy production yet, such as Russia and China.”