Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, has acquired a 195MW Australian solar PV portfolio from Australian arm of German solar PV developer, ENERPARC. The total investment in the solar PV portfolio will amount to approximately AU$250 million.
The deal includes two operational solar PV parks in Peak Hill and Trundle, near Parkes, in central-west New South Wales and a third solar PV park currently under development which is expected to start producing electricity at the end of 2025.
The expected installed capacity of the solar PV parks equals 195 megawatts. The total production of the three solar parks will be approximately 340 GWh per year, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of roughly 65,000 Australian households.
“We are delighted to be announcing this important initiative to enable renewable electricity consumption in Australia, and to partner up once again with ENERPARC in this next step in accelerating our energy production in the Asia and Pacific region.
“With our own solar parks (and wind farms), we want to make renewable energy available throughout the IKEA value chain and beyond,” says Peter van der Poel, Managing Director, Ingka Investments.
The investment in Australia secures long-term access to renewable energy that can be steered contractually towards the consumption not only of the local Ingka Group operations, but also, in the future, to value chain partners and customers, contributing to further reduction of the Ingka Climate Footprint.
This new investment provides for better diversification of the renewable energy portfolio, improving its production profile and the matching of the production with consumption.
“It is incredibly exciting that Ingka Investments’ renewable energy portfolio is growing and expanding so rapidly in Australia with full ownership of three solar PV parks in NSW.
“In addition to the recently acquired stake in a wind farm in Victoria, this is the next vital step towards reaching 100 per cent renewable energy across all operations.
“We have ambitious targets when it comes to reducing our climate footprint across Ingka Group globally, and meaningful investment like this is leading the way,” says Mirja Viinanen, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Australia.
As part of a EUR 6.5 billion initiative to support of 100 per cent renewable energy consumption across the value chain and beyond, Ingka Investments has invested and committed more than EUR 3.5 billion into renewable energy projects in wind and solar power.
The development of the solar PV parks in New South Wales, following the recent 15 per cent stake taken in Australia’s largest permitted wind farm, Golden Plains Wind Farm in Victoria, are part of the IKEA commitment to becoming climate positive by 2030 by reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than the IKEA value chain emits, while also simultaneously growing the IKEA business.
As the biggest retailer in the IKEA franchisee system, Ingka Group’s contribution is key to the successful accomplishment of the 2030 goals.
“This partnership is in line with our dedicated strategy to develop a total of 10 GW solar PV plants globally for our own portfolio and another 10 GW third-party solar portfolios until 2030. These and future Australian projects developed by Enerparc Australia will contribute to this strategy.
“It is a wonderful signal that Ingka Group and ENERPARC have joined forces to contribute to a world of carbon-neutral energy generation.” says Christoph Koeppen, CEO and chairman of the board at ENERPARC AG.
“This transaction is a testament to Enerparc Australia´s success in developing and realising solar projects in New South Wales led by our team of professionals based in Sydney.
“We are excited about accelerating the energy transition with the prospect of further developments and partnerships in Australia,” says Benjamin Hannig, Managing Director of Enerparc Australia.
Ingka Group has committed to owning or owns 594 wind turbines, 22 solar parks in 18 countries and over a million solar panels on the roofs of IKEA stores and warehouses.
Together, this produces more than 4 TWh, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of over one million European households.
