Ingka takes a 15% stake in Australia’s biggest wind farm

Ingka Investments has signed an agreement to invest in Australia’s biggest permitted wind farm, accelerating investments in renewable energy and circularity with a commitment to reach net-zero by 2050 at the latest.

The investment arm of Ingka Group, the world’s largest IKEA retailer, has taken a 15% stake in the €1.3 billion stage one of TagEnergy’s Golden Plains Wind Farm near Geelong, making its first renewable energy investment in Australia.

The group is now looking to expand its renewable energy portfolio in the Asia-Pacific region where Ingka Group has retail operations in Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea.

“Sustainability investments are a growth sector, where doing good business and being a good business comes together, and therefore are also a core strategic priority for Ingka Group,” said Peter van der Poel, managing director, Ingka Investments. “It is about making the necessary investments to meet sustainability goals and support the IKEA transition to become climate positive and transition to a circular business model, through offering affordable solutions enabling people to live within the planetary boundaries.”

The overall project in Australia has a total planned capacity of 1.3GW and consists of two stages. Once complete, Golden Plains Wind Farm will provide sustainable energy for more than 750,000 homes.

Stage one consists of 756MW (122 turbines) with an expected annual production of over 2,000 GWh/yr. Pro-rata to the ownership stake, Ingka Investments will be able to claim up to 15% of the project output of electricity and renewable energy attributes and link it to the local Ingka climate footprint.

TagEnergy and the original developer, Westwind, are also preparing for construction of stage two (576MW/93 turbines) and a 300MW battery storage facility that will add flexibility and stability to the electricity grid.

Entering a critical decade for climate action, Ingka Group, through its investment arm Ingka Investments has committed to expanding its investments in renewable energy to €6.5 billion as the next step towards 100% renewable energy across the value chain.

Ingka Investments has invested over €3 billion into renewable energy projects in wind and solar power since 2009, enabling the group to generate more renewable energy than it consumes across its global operations. The aim is to produce 15TWh and support the group’s climate footprint reduction.

 “We welcome Ingka Investments as a partner in its first renewable energy investment in Australia. Golden Plains 1 is a globally significant project that will accelerate the transition to net zero carbon emissions,” said Andrew Riggs, managing partner Australia, TagEnergy.