Daily Management Review

Shell Goes On A Renewable Acquisition Spree Gaining Momentum In The Clean Energy Race


01/27/2018


Shell and its peers are eyeing the renewable energy sectors on a “greater scale” to “effectively operate and leverage their trading skills” in the market.



In last recent weeks’ time, the company of “Royal Dutch Shell” has acquired assets ranging from “solar power to electric car charging points” the overall worth of which is “over $400 million”. In this manner, the company has boosted up its “drive” and geared up towards expanding “beyond its oil and gas business” for bringing down its carbon footprint.
 
However, the scale of the said acquisition spree falls short when compared to its “$25 billion annual spending budget”, although its first steps into the “solar and retail power sectors” over a period of time forms a graph of “growing urgency” for developing “cleaner energy businesses”.
 
In fact, Shell does not limit its investments into various renewable energies like “biofuels, solar and wind” but the company, just like its rivals, is also “betting on rising demand for gas” for powering EVs that are expected to make their presence felt in the coming years, as gas is the “least polluting fossil fuel”.
 
In the month of December, Shell showed its consent towards acquiring First Utility, an “independent British power provider”, for nearly “$200 million”. However, Shell refrained from commenting. First Utility could provide Shell an “outlet for its gas supplies”. Furthermore, Reuters added:
“In the last three months of 2017, Shell also invested in two projects to develop charging stations for electric vehicles across Europe’s highways. It has also signed agreements to buy solar power in Britain and develop renewables power grids in Asia and Africa”.
 
Bernstein’s analysts, over a period of five years, an investment of more than “$3 billion” was made by Big Oil for making renewable acquisitions. A note from them said, as per Reuters’ reports:
“‘Green’ merger and acquisition (M&A) activity today averages 13 percent of total energy M&A activity”.
“However greater scale is needed for the majors to effectively operate and leverage their trading skills in this market, necessitating more M&A”.
 
 
 
References:
reuters.com