Furniture giant Ikea has bought a wind farm in Ireland to power its two stores in Belfast and Dublin.
The wind farm consists of four large turbines located in Carrickeeny, near Galway on the west coast of Ireland, and the Swedish retail giant has bought them as part of its sustainability plan to be completely energy efficient by 2020.

It's reported that the farm has the capacity to generate 25GWh of electricity a year, which is the equivalent to what is needed to power around 5,500 homes. The project will result in Ikea investing €1.5bn (£1.3bn) into wind and solar energy sources.

Ikea will sell electricity generated by the farm to Irish energy supplier Vayu to power the stores in Dublin and Belfast under a 15-year contract.

Ikea reported last year that more than half of the energy used in their buildings is renewable, mostly from solar power.

Joanna Yarrow, head of sustainability Ikea UK and Ireland, said: "Companies, individuals or governments - we all have responsibility to address the resource dilemma and commit to a more sustainable future. Producing our own, affordable, renewable electricity gets us one step closer to becoming completely energy independent by 2020, while ensuring our commercial success."

Ikea now owns over 130 wind turbines, with farms located in the UK, Germany, France and elsewhere across Europe.