According to an article published on Livemint, the oil giant is said to be interested in acquiring a majority stake in India-based rooftop solar power firm, Fourth Partner Energy.
Shell declined to comment on the news, and Fourth Partner Energy could not be reached.
Fourth Partner Energy is one of the leading distributed energy and solar rooftop companies in India. To date, it says it has installed over 50 MW of solar PV across more than 1,400 systems in the country.
Shell is already active in the Indian energy market, running a natural gas terminal at Hazira on the west coast of the country, and is also an operator in the Pana-Mukta – Tapti fields, under a joint venture with the government’s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Ltd.
The oil company has been eyeing India’s green energy sector, as the country has emerged as big market for renewable energies, and it was one of the investors recently in Husk Power systems – an Indian energy startup for mini grids.
Overall, Shell has been upping its solar ante recently, having announced in January, the purchase of a 44% stake in U.S.-based Silicon Ranch. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2018, and Shell will pay between $193 million and $217 million.
In the past few months, it has also said it will develop a 20 MW solar PV project in the Netherlands, acquire the U.K.’s largest independent energy company, First Utility, install 250 MW in Australia, and invest in Singapore’s Sunseap.
by Ajinkya Waradpande
The article was amended on February 23 to remove the reference to the LiveMint article being re-posted on Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s website.
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