Global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power has closed a deal to sell its 7.65 megawatt Carrickeeny Wind Farm to IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer. Mainstream has commenced construction of the project, which is located in Leitrim, and it is expected to be operational early next year. At this point, IKEA will purchase the plant. The site will comprise four turbines, which will have the combined capacity to produce 25GWh annually - generating the equivalent electricity to help power around 5,500 houses a year. IKEA will sell electricity generated by the wind farm to Irish energy-supply company Vayu. The latter will supply electricity to the furniture retailer's Dublin and Belfast stores under a 15-year contract, as part of IKEA's clean-tech drive. Mainstream will continue operate and maintain the wind farm on behalf of IKEA for its 20-year lifespan. Under the deal, IKEA Ireland will become one of the first corporate businesses with a presence on the island of Ireland to operate a wind farm in such a manner. Mainstream is an independent developer of renewable energy projects. Founded by former Airtricity chief Eddie O'Connor, it has a development pipeline of over 19GW globally and is currently constructing solar and wind farms across Ireland, South Africa, Chile and Canada. The company is developing just under 8GW of offshore wind projects in England, Scotland and Germany, with 4.45GW of secured grid connection for these offshore projects. The IKEA Group has said it plans to invest £1.5 billion in wind energy and solar programmes up to 2015. It added that wind energy was a key part of IKEA Group’s sustainability strategy to generate as much renewable energy as it consumes by 2020. This acquisition will increase the total number of wind turbines that the IKEA Group has committed to owning and operating to 137, boosting the Swedish-born furniture giant's sustainability ambitions. Commenting on the deal, Mainstream’s chief executive O’Connor said that partnering with corporations who wanted to own wind and solar plant was a growing part of Mainstream’s global business. “We’re being approached by a growing number of energy-intensive corporations in the retail, IT and mining sectors who want to invest in our large portfolio of wind and solar plant being developed across four continents,” he said. “Owning wind and solar plant makes a lot of sense for them on a number of levels. As the cost of the fuel is free, the more of it they have, the more stability and certainty they have in relation to their energy costs in the long-term. On top of that, the more forward-thinking corporations are investing in wind and solar energy as part of their sustainability strategy, and IKEA is a fantastic example of this.” Joanna Yarrow, head of sustainability IKEA UK and Ireland said the company’s investments in renewable energy not only help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its operations in Ireland, but also help to control its electricity costs. “We can pass any benefits to our customers. Companies, individuals or governments – we all have responsibility to address the resource dilemma and commit to a more sustainable future,” she said. “Producing our own, affordable, renewable electricity gets us one step closer to becoming completely energy independent by 2020.”