Swedish furniture giant IKEA has announced the purchase of the Pisco wind farm in the north of Portugal.
The company has not disclosed the value of the deal but Dinheiro Vivo website has suggested it cost between €50 million and €60 million.
The 50-megawatt wind farm has been open for around a year and was taken over by IKEA Portugal, the national subsidiary of the furniture giant, from Windpartners Renewables.
It is located in the Guarda district between Aguiar da Beira, Sernacelhe, Fornos de Algodres and Trancoso and comprises 25 wind turbines with capacity for an annual production of 156 GWh.
According to IKEA Portugal’s head of sustainability, the company now will be able to produce as much renewable energy as it uses.
Ana Barbosa added that the deal has also seen the company’s global renewable energy production increase.
The IKEA group has invested around €1.7 billion in renewable energy since 2009, owning 416 wind turbines in 12 countries and 750,000 solar panels.
In Portugal alone, IKEA has installed over 11,000 solar panels at its stores in Alfragide, Matosinhos, Loures and Loulé.
Around 98% of the energy produced by these panels is used at the stores and represents 25% of all energy consumed at each store.
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
