IKEA UK has invested in a 12.3MW Huntly wind farm (right) in Aberdeenshire. It consists of seven turbines, each generating 1.75MW, producing a combined 24,700,000kW hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the electricity consumption of five IKEA stores, or 30% of the company’s total electricity consumption in the UK.

The company is also investing close to £4m fitting over 39,000 photovoltaic panels to the rooftops of 10 IKEA stores for solar energy, providing on average 5% of each store’s electricity needs, or almost enough energy to power around half of one of the company’s 18 UK based stores with solar energy alone.

IKEA UK aims for all installation work to be complete by March 2012. In total, 31,000m2 of roof space will be covered by solar panels, generating around 1,600,000 kWh per year. Built to operate effectively for 25 years, it is anticipated that the solar panels will reduce IKEA UK’s CO2 consumption on average by 662 tonnes per year during the first 25 years of operation.

Installing energy efficient measures has helped the home furnishings company reduce energy consumption by 19%. Since 2005 IKEA has opened six new stores with only a 10% increase in combined energy use.

Commenting on both initiatives, Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group said: "Taking care of people and the environment is integral to how we do business, so we are continually working to significantly reduce our carbon footprint from all parts of our operations, while helping to reduce CO2 emissions in society. We believe that our wind farm and solar panel initiatives mark a major milestone in our ambition to source 100% renewable energy.

"We aim for all IKEA UK buildings to be fitted with solar panels in the long-term. As well as reducing our impact on the environment, these initiatives come with a strong financial incentive as consuming less energy means we spend less money, which helps us lower the prices on our products.”