Ikea expanding renewable energy portfolio with new technology

Ikea is rolling out biogas-powered fuel cell technology to more stores.



The home furnishings retailer has installed the fuel cell systems at two Southern California stores, in Costa Mesa and Covina.



In addition, Ikea also is planning to deploy fuel cell systems at its store in East Palo Alto, Calif., as well as its store in San Diego and in New Haven, Conn. (Ikea first deployed the technology over a year ago, at its store in Emeryville, Calif.).



In total, Ikea will generate 1.5 MW of energy via fuel cells, supplementing onsite solar arrays atop all these stores.



“Plugging-in this fuel cell system is an exciting milestone that complements our existing rooftop solar array,” said Laurie Helm, Costa Mesa store manager.



Bloom Energy, Sunnyvale, Calif., was contracted to design, development and install the fuel cell systems at Ikea’s two stores in Southern California.