IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture brand, will start selling renewable energy to households, starting with home market Sweden in September.
Ingka Group, the owner of most IKEA stores, said households would be able to buy affordable renewable electricity from solar and wind parks, and track their usage through an app.
Ingka’s partner Svea Solar, which produces solar panels for IKEA, will buy the electricity on the Nordic power exchange Nord Pool and resell it without surcharge. Households will pay a fixed monthly fee plus a variable rate.
IKEA, which also sells solar panels for households in 11 markets, said those buyers would be able to track their own production in the app and sell back surplus electricity.
Jonas Carlehed, head of sustainability at IKEA Sweden, told Reuters he hoped to roll out the new renewable energy offer as well as IKEA’s solar panel offering to all markets.
Ingka said the plan was to offer electricity from solar and wind parks five years old or less, as a way to encourage the building of more parks.