Initially started as a partnership between Odfjell Oceanwind and Source Galileo, the consortium is further strengthened with the two new partners, Japanese utility company and renewable energy investor KANSAI, and Ingka Investments
Ingka Investments joins UtsiraVIND. (Credit: Ingka Holding B.V.)
Ingka Investments, an investment arm of Ingka Group, which owns and operates IKEA Retail, has joined UtsiraVIND, a consortium dedicated to advancing offshore wind energy in Norway.
UtsiraVIND initially started as a partnership between Norwegian floating offshore wind technologies firm Odfjell Oceanwind, and European renewable energy platform Source Galileo.
The consortium is further strengthened with the two new partners, Japanese utility company and renewable energy investor KANSAI, and Ingka Investments.
The expanded consortium will participate in the bidding at the Utsira Nord floating offshore wind tender process, which will be held in September this year.
Ingka Investments renewable energy head Frederik de Jong said: “This partnership is a further step to expand our investment activities to address climate footprint reduction well beyond our retail consumption, and into the IKEA value chain.
“We are looking forward to working closely with our Utsira partners to make a significant contribution to the Norwegian Government’s renewable energy goals.”
According to Ingka Investments, UtsiraVIND would consolidate unique technology in floating structures, electrical engineering, financial strength, and extensive offshore wind experience.
The consortium will participate in the upcoming Utsira tender process to develop and operate a floating wind park on the Utsira Nord seabed, using Odfjell Oceanwind’s proprietary solutions.
Utsira Nord is located 32km offshore in the North Sea, where floating wind turbines will be installed in water depths between 180 and 280m, for a total capacity of 1.5GW.
Ingka Investments aims to expand its investments in renewable energy to €6.5bn, to achieve its goal of using 100% renewable energy across the value chain.
Since 2009, it has invested over €3bn into renewable energy projects, ensuring to generate more renewable energy than it consumes across its operations.
The investment arm of Ingka Group aims to produce 15TWh and support its climate footprint reduction with six million tonnes of CO2 compared to the baseline in its fiscal year 2016.