IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture brand, is branching out into selling renewable energy to households, starting with home market Sweden in September.
Ingka Group, the owner of most IKEA stores worldwide, said households would buy affordable renewable electricity from solar and wind parks and track their usage through an app.
Ingka’s partner Svea Solar, which produces solar panels for IKEA, will buy the electricity on the Nordic power exchange Nord Pool and resell it without a surcharge. Households will pay a fixed monthly fee plus a variable rate.
IKEA, which also sells solar panels for households in 11 markets, said those buyers would be able to track their products in the app and sell back surplus electricity.
Jonas Carlehed, head of sustainability at IKEA Sweden, told that he hoped to roll out the new renewable energy offer and IKEA’s solar panel offering to all markets.
“We want to make electricity from sustainable sources more accessible and affordable for all,” the company said in a statement.
“IKEA wants to build the biggest renewable energy movement together with co-workers, customers and partners around the world to help tackle climate change together.”
Ingka said the plan was to offer electricity from solar and wind parks five years old or less to encourage the building of more gardens.
More broadly, IKEA aims to be “climate positive” – reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than is eitted by the entire IKEA value chain, from raw material production to customers’ disposal of their furniture – by 2030.
