IKEA Industry Zbąszynek officially begins the construction of one of the largest solar farms for private use in Poland and Europe. Solar panels with a total capacity of 19 MW will be installed on the premises of IKEA Industry plants in Babimost and Zbąszynek. The investment will save energy costs and lower the climate footprint. In this way, it will contribute to the achievement of IKEA’s goal of becoming a business positive for the climate by 2030.

37 thousand sq m large photovoltaic plant will be built on the plots of land owned by the IKEA Industry in Babimost and Zbąszynek with a total capacity of 19 MW and an area equivalent to the size of 6 IKEA stores.

Poland has a special place on the global IKEA map, being the second largest manufacturing country for the brand. Annually, almost 20% of IKEA’s world production comes from Poland. In the case of wooden furniture produced by the IKEA Industry, it is even 50% of world production.

Poland is a country where IKEA has invested nearly PLN 1 billion in renewable energy sources (RES), becoming the owner of the second-largest RES portfolio in IKEA in the world, right after the American market. The total installed capacity of IKEA windmills in Poland is almost 178 MW.

80 windmills on 6 wind farms owned by IKEA Retail Polska produce around 400 GWh of electricity per year. This is much more than IKEA’s energy consumption in stores, warehouses and distribution centers in Poland.

“It is a milestone in IKEA Industry’s investment plan in renewable energy in Poland”, said Małgorzata Dobies-Turulska, the president of IKEA Industry Poland. “On May 20, 2022, we started the process of building a photovoltaic installation in Babimost. We hope that similar works can start soon in Zbąszynek and other IKEA factories in Poland, but the pace of these investments depends on the procedures and the waiting time for permits”, she added.

Adrian Andrzejewski