IKEA Will Begin Selling Renewable Energy to Homes in Sweden

Beginning in September, furniture retailer IKEA will pilot its renewable energy subscription service, Strömma. The company will source clean energy from wind and solar parks, and Swedish residents who purchase the energy will be able to track their usage on an app.

The move to begin selling clean energy is part of IKEA’s larger plan to reduce greenhouse gasses and lessen its carbon footprint alongside the carbon footprints of those who shop with them. Plus, this new initiative will make solar energy more accessible to the general public.

Jonas Carlehed, Head of Sustainability at IKEA Sweden, said perDesignBoom, “The link is that our customers’ use of our products account for around 20 percent of IKEA’s total climate footprint — from appliances, lighting and electronics such as speakers and so on.” Therefore, offering clean energy will greatly contribute to IKEA’s target goal of becoming a net zero company by 2050.

IKEA will only sell renewable energy from solar and wind farms that are 5 years old or less in order to encourage the production of new clean energy sites.

The retailer is already making solar panels available to customers afterpartnering with SVEA Solarback in 2019. SVEA hopes that solar power can account for 14 percent of the total electricity generation of Sweden by 2040 — and IKEA’s new initiative will greatly help that goal come to fruition.

SVEA will begin buying electricity on the Nordic power exchange, Nord Pool, to sell through IKEA without a surcharge. Households will then pay a fixed monthly fee as well as a variable rate. And if a household is using IKEA solar panels, they’ll be able to use the IKEA app to track usage and even sell back unused energy to IKEA.