All Ikea-owned buildings in China to run on solar power

Sweden’s Ikea International Group, the world's largest furniture retailer, will outfit all its buildings in China with solar photovoltaic panels over the next three years.

Ikea will invest some 470 million euros in renewable energy in China, including other investments that will be installed over the next three years.

The company has commissioned Hanergy Holdings Group to implement the solar project, which is part of its global goal to only use renewable energy to power its buildings.

The PV panels will provide 10% to 15% of all the electricity needed to run Ikea stores and 100% of the electricity needs of Ikea distribution centers in China. Using solar energy will cut around 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

The PV panels will also be manufactured and installed by Hanergy, the largest non-state owned clean energy company in China. Hanergy has an installed solar power capacity in China of some 2,000MW.

"Not only will we harness the sun to help power our stores and other buildings across China, but we will also extend the scope of the project over the coming year to our supply base across the country, enabling them to utilize an affordable and reliable supply of clean energy," said Steve Howard, chief sustainability officer of Ikea.

More than half of the energy needed to power Ikea's buildings around the world currently comes from renewable sources, primarily solar and wind. There are now over 250,000 solar panels on Ikea buildings and it owns and operates 80 wind turbines.