As it broadens its global renewables portfolio, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell will buy African solar producer Daystar Power, the two firms announced on Wednesday. Although Shell is one of the most significant oil producers in Africa, the Daystar purchase marks its first electricity purchase there, highlighting its commitment to halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
“As we do this, we’re helping to address a critical energy gap for many who currently rely on diesel generators for backup power,” Thomas Brostrøm, Shell’s vice president for renewable generation, said in a statement.
On the sale price, neither Shell nor Daystar offered any comments. On 2022, Shell plans to invest $2–3 billion in renewable energy and energy-saving technologies.
Daystar, with its headquarters in Lagos, offers solar and hybrid power solutions with battery storage to commercial and industrial clients in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, and Senegal. It currently has 300 power plants with a 32 MW installed solar capacity, but by 2025, it wants to increase that to 400 MW.
It also has expansion aspirations for eastern and southern Africa, which Daystar CEO Jasper Graf von Hardenberg claimed would be simpler to accomplish with Shell.
“It needs an investor with the same goal to move on to the next step, which is truly becoming a pan-African power provider. Someone with the true firepower to support this expansion, “He informed Reuters. Shell will fully own Daystar, subject to regulatory approvals, while von Hardenberg and the management group will continue to run the business. Shell’s renewables and energy solutions division accounted for 6% of company earnings in the second quarter, but new chief executive Wael Sawan is accelerating the drive for cleaner power.
It has shifted hundreds of experienced oil and gas staff into renewables and in April purchased India-based renewable power platform Sprng Energy group for $1.55 billion.
