IKEA parent Ingka Group’s investment arm, Ingka Investments, announced the launch of Cameron Storage, its first-ever battery storage project, in partnership with renewable energy company Apex Clean Storage.

According to the companies, the 16.4 MW project, co-located with Ingka’s 165 MW Cameron Wind Farm in Cameron County, Texas, will support the Texas power grid with increased reliability amid energy supply and demand fluctuations. The project is anticipated to begin commercial operations in October.

Energy storage solutions are emerging as a key energy transition investment area. Storage forms one of the major building blocks for the rapidly expanding clean energy transition, given the intermittent generating nature of many sources of renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and the need to satisfy round-the-clock energy demand, while ensuring that energy is not wasted.

Apex Clean Energy CEO Ken Young said:

“For more than a decade, IKEA has charted the course for the corporate sector in investing in clean energy solutions, and today, Cameron Storage builds on that record of leadership. Utility-scale energy storage unlocks the full potential of clean power to decarbonize our economy while providing increased reliability and certainty for our electric grid.”

The new project follows a commitment by Ingka Investments in 2021 to expand its investments in renewable energy to €6.5 billion by 2030. Ingka has already invested and committed over €3.5 billion in renewables since 2009, and currently owns and manages 575 wind turbines across 17 countries, 20 solar parks, and 935,000 solar panels on the roofs of IKEA stores and warehouses, with total capacity of more than 2.3 GW.

The company added that the new project forms part of its commitment to help achieve IKEA’s commitment to become climate positive, reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than its value chain emits, by 2030.

Ingka Investments Managing Director Peter van der Poel said:

“This is an important step in our journey towards becoming climate positive. Going forward we aim to invest in a mix of wind, solar and energy storage. Investing in all three technologies will help to provide renewable energy during more hours of the year and optimize the use of our grid connections.”