IKEA Canada, the flat pack furniture retailer, has announced that it has purchased a wind farm in Pincher Creek, Alberta, that will produce more than double the total energy (we suspect they mean total electricity, not total energy) consumption of IKEA Canada. The 20 turbine farm  is expected to generate 161 gigawatt hours each year. It is currently being constructed by Mainstream Renewable Power using Siemens’ turbines and is expected to be fully operational in the autumn of 2014.

According to IKEA the wind farm’s expected annual production of 161 GWh is equivalent to:

• 32 IKEA stores’ electricity consumption
• 60 per cent of IKEA Group electricity consumption in North America
• Eight per cent of IKEA Group electricity consumption worldwide
• 13,500 average Canadian households’ electricity consumption

GallonDaily commends IKEA for this initiative. Too many companies, when approached by renewable energy developers, claim that ‘we are not in the electricity generation business’. Then they decline to purchase renewable power because it is seen as too expensive. IKEA Canada is demonstrating that if you are in the business of using electricity it is also a good idea to understand where it comes from and how to reduce your energy-related environmental footprint.

More information about the IKEA wind power initiative at http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/about_ikea/newsitem/wind_farm_purchase