Dutch oil giant Shell buys Lagos-based Daystar Power expanding renewable portfolio 

BusinessTech Africa has gathered information that Dutch oil giant Shell has bought solar provider Daystar Power.

Shell has purchased Daystar Power as the company expands its worldwide renewable portfolio and the two companies confirmed this in a joint statement on Wednesday.

As one of the biggest role players in oil production in the African continent, the buying of Daystar Power is the company’s first power acquisition on the continent, underscoring its mandate to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half 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.

Engineering News posted that both companies, Shell or Daystar, could not comment on the sale price but reported that the former earmarked $2-billion to $3-billion in capital expenditure for renewables and energy solutions in 2022.

Based in Lagos, Nigeria, Daystar, is the provider of off-grid power to commercial and industrial clients in West Africa in countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, and Senegal, offering solar and hybrid power solutions with battery storage.

It has 300 power installations with installed solar capacity of 32 megawatts but aims to boost capacity to 400 MW by 2025 and also looks to expand to eastern and southern Africa, a goal that Daystar chief executive Jasper Graf von Hardenberg said would be easier to reach with Shell.

“For the next stage – really becoming a pan-Africa power provider – it requires an investor with the same vision. Someone really with sufficient firepower to finance this growth,” he told Reuters.

Pending regulatory approvals, Shell will fully own Daystar, but Von Hardenberg and the management team will continue to run the company.

“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,” reports the website.

“It has shifted hundreds of experienced oil and gas staff into renewables and in April purchased India-based renewable power platform Spring Energy group for $1.55-billion.”

Main Image: Shell Oils/NewZimbabwe