Toymaker LEGO plans $543 million wind energy investment
Apparently, cool geometric sculptures aren't the only thing that toymaker LEGO Group is interested in building. I just read on the company's blog that its parent, KIRKBI A/S, plans to invest roughly $534 million over the next four years in a wind farm that will be located off the coast of Germany.
The farm will include 77 wind turbines, built about 34 miles off the coast. It will be a joint venture of three Danish companies: DONG Energy, the Oticon Foundation/William Demant Invest, and KIRKBI. At the end of the project, LEGO's parent KIRLBI will own approximately one-third of the output.
LEGO's aim is to generate enough renewable energy capacity to handle all of its electricity needs by 2020. The investment in the wind farm will more than accomplish that goal, according to the blog. That is the equivalent of the power needed to keep 300,000 German households running for a year. It will also earn LEGO the right to use the WindMade eco-label.
The goal is to switch on the first phase of the wind-generated electricity in 2014; construction on the farm will begin in 2013.
(Image courtesy of LEGO Group blog)
Related stories:
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- Loony threat to the world's largest offshore wind farm
- Big companies slap on latest eco-label: Windmade
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com