MADRID – Ikea seems to have listened to Elon Musk and announces an investment of €100 million in solar energy in Spain. But Ikea is faster than Musk, who has only announced major investments.
The Swedish group has already announced what they will do and when they plan to finalise this initiative. Through Ikea’s investment division Ignka Group, IKEA will invest more than €100 million in Spain. It plans to purchase five solar energy projects that are expected to be operational by 2023.
This investment in solar energy is part of an alliance with Enerparc. This also includes an investment in Germany for the purchase of another four solar parks. In total, Spain’s capacity will be approximately 140 MW, with an estimated production of 260 GWh per year.
See also: The richest man in the world wants Spain to provide solar energy for all of Europe
Investing in solar energy in Spain is a great opportunity
This is Ikea’s first major solar investment in Spain. The five projects will be distributed between the Valencian Community, Andalucia, and Castilla La Mancha. The plan is to start construction between late 2022 and early 2023 and be operational next year. In total, Ikea expects to complete construction in about 6 months.
The production of these solar parks is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 65,000 Spanish homes, as the company describes itself. The goal is to have the entire company use renewable energy by 2030. And according to what Ikea itself says, the solar energy produced from these five solar farms will be equal to everything their stores consume.
To date, Ignka Group has 10 solar parks and 935,000 solar panels on the roofs of shops and warehouses. At the moment, the investment in solar energy in Spain amounted to approximately €11 million. These were spent on installing solar panels in all stores. The result, as described by Ikea, is that 85.2% of the energy consumed in Spain is renewable.
Early last year, Elon Musk assured us that Tesla’s solar roof would arrive in Europe around this time. However, as yet, it hasn’t happened.
Spain can provide all of Europe with solar energy
On Tuesday, a statement by Musk became a trending topic – something that happens often – when he gave Spain the following advice. Elon Musk believes that Spain should invest even more in solar energy and that the country has what it takes to provide all of Europe with energy. This statement by Musk also influenced the stock market: Shortly after his tweet, sustainable energy companies were among the biggest risers on the Spanish stock exchange.
Also read: The number of households installing solar panels in Spain sharply increases
