IKEA owner applies to build offshore energy hub
The owner of Swedish furniture giant IKEA has submitted an application to build a huge offshore wind farm off the South Coast of Sweden, as well as a hydrogen production plant.
As well as generating electricity, the plan is also to ‘oxygenate’ the deep water of the Baltic Sea.
It is a joint application with OX2, which develops, constructs and sells renewable energy solutions including solar, wind and energy storage at scale.
Ingka Investments is the investment arm of Ingka Group, which is the biggest IKEA retailer. It has submitted a permit application in Sweden’s Exclusive Economic Zone 50 kilometres off the coast of Blekinge to install up to 207 wind turbines with a maximum height of 420 metres.
Total installed energy capacity would be about 3,100MW, producing up to 15 terawatt hours a year. This equates to the total electricity consumption of the Blekinge and Skåne region in Sweden.
OX2 has applied for a Natura 2000 permit for the energy hub and if permits are obtained, building will begin in 2030.
As well as wind, the two partners have applied for permits to produce offshore 370,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year, as well as a pilot project to oxygenate the Baltic Sea.
“Oxygen is a bi-product of hydrogen production and can be used to oxygenate the Baltic Sea, thereby contribute to restoring the marine life in an area with oxygen deficiency,” the company says.
“The energy hub Neptunus is one of the first of the next generation of wind farms,” says Emelie Zakrisson, head of offshore wind development in Sweden, OX2. “By producing renewable energy and hydrogen, Sweden will be able to secure energy for sectors that can’t be electrified. The oxygen from the hydrogen production can also be used to oxygenate the bottom water in the Baltic Sea and improve biodiversity.”
OX2 and Ingka Investments are developing a total of six offshore wind farms in Sweden: Galene on the west coast, Triton and Neptunus in the south of Sweden, Aurora between the islands of Öland and Gotland and Pleione and Ran off the east coast of Gotland.
OX2 operates in 10 countries in Europe – namely, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, France, Spain, Italy and Greece. It is headquartered in Stockholm.
Early last year OX2 sold a 49% stake in three of its offshore wind projects in Finland to Ingka Investments.
The deal meant that the two companies would have a combined potential capacity of 6,000MW, which OX2 says is more than a third of electricity consumed in Finland in 2022.
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