The spacious roof terrace offers a marvellous 360° view of Vienna. If you lift your gaze, you will discover an airy roof construction peppered with 280 solar panels. Covering a total area of 500m², these solar panels harvest energy directly from the sun with a total output of 88kWp.
The energy generated that is not being consumed can be put to use by feeding it into a battery storage system: The BLOKK electricity storage system from neoom is installed in the basement of the new furniture store, where the excess energy is stored. This means that the electricity generated can also be used in the event of a power outage. Distributed over four air-conditioned rooms, the actively ventilated storage units have a total system output of 880kW and a battery capacity of 1042kWh. The central control software NTUITY takes over the control of the individual storage tanks. With a total storage capacity of 1 MWh, it is the largest in-house battery storage system in Europe at the time of installation.
Whenever the energy harvested directly from the photovoltaic system is not sufficient, the storage system supplies electricity for the normal operation of the furniture store. In an emergency - a power outage - the battery storage system supports the grid backup system. This guarantees that IKEA Wien Westbahnhof will never be plunged into darkness. Another plus of the large storage capacity is that the furniture store is able to also supply its neighborhood with electricity in the event of a grid failure. This way, IKEA makes a sustainable contribution to security of supply.
With this project, which is unprecedented in Europe, IKEA is showing other commercial buildings the way: a sustainable and self-sufficient future.