The Climate Group

Nearly half of IKEA stores in China have gone solar in the last year, with yearly electric energy production now topping 1.6 Million kilowatt hours.

The launch ceremony for the IKEA-Hanergy Grid-Connected Solar Power Generation Project was held today in the Beijing IKEA Store, during which IKEA and Hanergy, both members of The Climate Group, announced the preliminary results of the project. The thin-film panels installed on the rooftops of five IKEA stores in China, once put into operation, will provide 10-15% of all electricity needed to run those stores.

Collaboration

In June 2012, IKEA announced its strategic partnership with Hanergy to install solar photovoltaic panels on IKEA owned buildings in China as part of its goal to promote the undertaking of energy efficiency and emission reduction. Through one year’s efforts, thin-film photovoltaic solar panels have now been installed and tested via trial runs at IKEA stores in five cities across China, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Dalian, Nanjing and Shenyang.

image via The Climate Group

The installation will soon be carried out in IKEA stores in other cities, including IKEA’s distribution center. The solar power generation project will also be popularized to IKEA suppliers in China.

Green Goals

Rooftop installations on the IKEA Beijing Store have an installed capacity of 416.24 kilowatts, generating approximately 452,000 kilowatt hours every year, which translates into an annual reduction of CO2 emission by approximately 426 tons. The store has become the first business facility in Beijing to have been granted grid access for its rooftop grid-connected solar power generation installations by the Beijing Electric Power Company.

“IKEA IGR(IKEA goes renewable) project has a long-term commitment to use 100% renewable energy to power our buildings and this is an important and significant step towards reaching that goal,” said Angela Zhu , Retail Manager of IKEA China. “Over the past year, we have worked with Hanergy to actively advance the grid-connected solar power generation project and our cooperation made a significant step towards reaching our goal of “making IKEA more environment-friendly. This makes us even more confident for our subsequent cooperation and the attainment of the goal.”

Solar Technology

Hanergy is the world’s largest thin-film photovoltaic solar panel manufacturer. Through technology-based M&As and independent innovation, its thin-film solar technology has reached an internationally advanced level.

“With the partnership with IKEA entering its second year, we hope that, in the context of the national policy encouraging grid-connected distributed generation, Hanergy will help more enterprises and customers gain the advantage of thin-film solar energy in building integrated photovoltaics and promote the wide application of renewable energy,” said Liu Min, Executive President of Hanergy Holding Group.

China Growth

“China is now in a special stage of its development where it faces both urgent challenges and opportunities for rebalancing its economic and social model. In this drive, it is imperative to promote clean energy, energy efficiency and emission reduction, with an urgent need for leading enterprises to play an exemplary and guiding role. We appreciate the efficient and fruitful cooperation between IKEA and Hanergy, and we are looking forward to the involvement of more enterprises and social actors in the great endeavour to make reality the dream of a beautiful China characterized by clean, low-carbon and green development,” said Changhua Wu, the Greater China Director of The Climate Group.

Becoming energy and resource independent is an important focus area of IKEA’s sustainability strategy, People and Planet Positive. The strategic cooperation with Hanergy marks an important step taken by IKEA to promote energy efficiency, emission reduction and green development in China. The powerful partnership between IKEA, the leader in home furnishing industry and Hanergy, a leader in the new energy industry, sets an example of how large enterprises perform their social responsibility in clean energy promotion and green development.

This Green Businesses article posted courtesy of The Climate Group.