Shell expands solar footprint with acquisition
Royal Dutch Shell plans to acquire solar and battery storage company Savion, expanding its renewable energy footprint in the United States as oil giants face mounting pressure to change their business models to address climate change.
Shell New Energies U.S., a subsidiary of the European oil major, on Tuesday said it will purchase Kansas City-based Savion from investment bank Macquarie’s Green Investment Group. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Savion’s significant asset pipeline, highly experienced team, and proven success as a renewable energy project developer make it a compelling fit for Shell’s growing integrated power business,” said Wael Sawan, director of integrated gas, renewables and energy solutions. “As one of the fastest-growing, lowest-cost renewable energy sources, solar power is a critical element of our renewables portfolio as we accelerate our drive to net zero.”
Shell is moving aggressively to transform its century-old fossil fuels business into a clean energy leader and meet the company’s net-zero emissions target by 2050 in the face of increasing investor pressures and government regulations to combat climate change. Shell has said it will invest as much as $6 billion a year into renewable energy while divesting from oil and gas projects to the tune of $4 billion a year. The Savion acquisition falls within Shell’s renewables and energy solutions capital spending budget of $2 billion to $3 billion this year.
The oil giant has been investing in solar projects, carbon capture and storage, and biofuels. Shell also is planning to grow its global electric vehicle charging network to around 500,000 charge points by 2025, up from more than 60,000 charge points currently, to support the expected rise of electric vehicles in the coming years.
At the same time, Shell has been selling oil and gas assets to help build its low-carbon business. Earlier this month, Shell completed the sale of its holdings in the Permian Basin of West Texas to the Houston independent Conocophillips for $9.5 billion in cash.
Shell made waves in February when it declared that its crude production peaked in 2019, a stunning acknowledgment of society’s desire to shift away from fossil fuels to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. The company said it will continue oil
and gas operations in the near term to fund its energy transition.
Ultimately, Shell said its transition efforts are expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 50 percent by 2030, compared to 2016 levels. The company, which plans to drop Royal Dutch from its name and move its headquarters to London from The Hague, said it expects its carbon emissions peaked in 2018.
The Savion acquisition will expand Shell’s solar and battery storage portfolio. The energy giant holds interest in solar developers such as Silicon Ranch Corp. in the United States., Cleantech Solar in Singapore and ESCO Pacific in Australia. Shell also owns EOLFI, a wind and solar developer in France, as well as Sonnen, a battery storage and energy management technology company in Germany.
Savion has more than 100 projects — representing 18 gigawatts of solar and battery storage, or enough to power some 3.6 million Texas homes — under development in 26 states. Its customers include power utilities and large commercial and industrial groups.
The acquisition will help Shell reach its goal to sell more than 560 terawatt hours of power globally each year by 2030, twice as much electricity as the company sells today. A terawatt hour is 1 billion kilowatt hours.