Swedish furniture giant IKEA has purchased two wind farms in the Podkarpackie region of southern Poland, from Martifer Renawables, a subsidiary of Portuguese metal structures manufacturer Martifer.
The Leki Dukielskie and Bukowsko wind farms, which have a combined power output of 28 MW, will be followed by a third, with IKEA confirming it has also committed to purchasing a ready-to-build wind farm in Rymanów.
The sale of the 26 MW Rymanów project will be concluded after the park is built and connected to the grid in 2013. The total cost of the deal is set to amount to zl.385 million.
For Martifer the deal forms part of the Portuguese firm’s plans to reduce its debt. “Martifer’s strategic plan points to a reduction of assets in the area of wind energy generation,” Mario Couto, the firm’s chief financial officer, was quoted as saying (Bloomberg report). "With the slowdown in growth in the wind sector, this business has become only a segment of metal construction,” he added.
IKEA’s purchases will now afford it more independence from power companies, as the three wind farms will generate power amounting to 50 % of power consumption for the entire group in Poland. The long-term goal of the company is to exclusively use renewable energy sources. The firm already owns wind farms in Germany, Sweden, France and the UK.
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