Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, continues its renewable energy investments with a new photovoltaic solar park in Langeron, central France, now fully operational.

The investment, made in 2023, consists of 34,500 modules and will have an annual production estimated at 23 GWh per year, the equivalent of the annual consumption of more than 6,000 households.

“Our renewable energy investments are guided by our IKEA Retail countries, where we aim to secure long-term access to renewable energy, as well as those of our IKEA suppliers. We believe we have an important role to play to encourage the production of more renewable energy, rather than just buying up renewable energy,” says Frederik de Jong, Head of Renewable Energy at Ingka Investments.

“We are delighted that the investment in Langeron is now fully operational, as it will further support Ingka Group’s commitment to consume 100% renewable electricity across its retail operations by 2025 and contribute to the overall IKEA net-zero commitment. Adding solar energy to our existing portfolio of seven wind farms in France will create a better match between the renewable energy production and consumption profile of Ingka Group and our supply chain in France,” he says.

The Langeron Solar Park will be operated in partnership with Exus Renewables and will be officially opened on 30 October with representatives of the local Langeron municipality in attendance.

“We are delighted with this investment. It reconfirms our commitment to renewable energy and adds to the existing French portfolio of seven wind farms and more than 57,000 solar panels over 23 IKEA stores and warehouses. It will enable us to increase our renewable energy consumption across our retail operations in IKEA France, and beyond,” says Emma Recco, Business Development Manager for IKEA France & General Director of Langeron solar park.

As a multinational business operating in 31 countries, Ingka Group is committed to the Paris Agreement and to contribute to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C. In November 2023, the company strengthened its climate targets in alignment with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Corporate Net-Zero Standard.

The targets were approved by SBTi in April 2024 and include a commitment to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions from the value chain by at least 50% by FY30 (compared to FY16 baseline) and reach net zero emissions by 2050, without relying on carbon offsets to meet these absolute reduction targets.

As part of a EUR 7.5 billion initiative to support 100 percent renewable energy consumption across the value chain and beyond, Ingka Investments has invested and committed more than EUR 4 billion into renewable energy projects in wind and solar power. Out of the EUR 7.5 billion initiative, EUR 1 billion is committed to investments in innovation and transitional technologies, such as energy storage, hydrogen as an energy carrier, or grid infrastructure.