Global Energy Company Shell [SHEL:US] is investigating more wind power investment opportunities in Australia to diversify its energy portfolio in the country, as reported by Bloomberg on August 22. Since last year, Shell has been increasing its presence in the Australian wind power market. The company purchased a 49% share in WestWind Energy Development, an Australian wind farm developer with a 3-gigawatt (GW) pipeline of onshore wind projects in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The investment is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

Maarten Wetselaar, Shell’s Integrated Gas, Renewables, and Energy Solutions Director, stated in October 2019 that Shell will expand investments in natural gas and chemical projects while establishing a larger-scale electricity business. The company considers wind and solar energy to be the long-term future of electricity. As a result, Shell has increased its investments in the development of wind and solar projects, investing USD217m in early 2018 to acquire a 43.83% stake in Silicon Ranch, a US solar energy firm. In January 2020, Shell also purchased a 49% share in ESCO Pacific, an independent solar developer in Australia with nearly 500 megawatts (MW) of launched capacity and 350 MW of capacity in long-term operation since 2017.

Sources:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-22/shell-mulls-australia-wind-expansion-amid-clean-energy-push?srnd=premium-asia#xj4y7vzkg

http://www.chinalubricant.com/news/show-106193.html

http://www.sinopecnews.com.cn/xnews/content/2021-11/23/content_7007736.html

https://www.sohu.com/a/365043573_418320https://www.cpnn.com.cn/news/gj/202204/t20220411_1501190.html