Shell Australia makes first investment in wind through 49% share and strategic partnership with WestWind

Shell Australia makes first investment in wind through 49% share and strategic partnership with WestWind

Shell Energy Operations Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell plc (“Shell”), today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire 49% of Australian wind farm developer, WestWind Energy Development Pty Ltd (“WestWind”), which has a 3 gigawatts (GW) project pipeline across Victoria, New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland.

Shell Australia Country Chair, Tony Nunan, said: “Meeting our customers’ energy needs today and into the future by developing renewable energy is core to Shell’s strategy.”

“WestWind has an impressive pipeline of Australian wind projects and proven capability in the development of onshore wind here and, via its parent company, overseas. Our first wind investment in Australia is a significant step in our goal to build a low-carbon integrated power business in Australia in line with our customers’ evolving energy needs.”

“This strategic partnership with WestWind complements Shell’s investments over recent years across large scale solar, carbon trading and power retailing, generation and trading. It demonstrates our commitment to delivering a broad range of low-carbon products and services to residential and commercial customers,” Mr Nunan said.

WestWind Energy Managing Director, Tobias Geiger, said: “This is an exciting day for WestWind Energy and, more importantly, for Australia’s transition to a clean energy economy.”

“In partnership with Shell, we can accelerate our development of wind energy projects in Victoria and expand into NSW and Queensland. We will be able to grow our team to undertake a larger number of projects, and progress them much faster,” Mr Geiger said.

The investment is expected to complete in 2022 and is subject to regulatory approvals.

Download PDF Media Release

    • About WestWind: WestWind’s mission is to be a driver of change towards a sustainable energy future for our planet by developing cost-effective renewable energy generation and storage solutions refined through technical excellence, commitment to communities and cohesive company values. WestWind has permitted approximately 2 GW of wind projects and aims to progress a further 3 GW of renewable capacity in the coming years.
    • Shell is committed to driving the energy transition in Australia by delivering a broad range of low-carbon solutions and services to business and residential customers.
    • Today, Shell’s low-carbon energy business in Australia includes supplying energy to commercial, industrial and residential customers; carbon farming specialist, Select Carbon; construction of the 120MW Gangarri solar development in Queensland; home battery energy storage systems provider, sonnen Australia; and energy retailer, Powershop Australia.
    • Shell plc aims to sell around 560 terawatt hours a year globally by 2030 as part of its Integrated Power business, twice as much electricity as its businesses sell today, and expects to serve more than 15 million retail and business customers worldwide as a leading provider of clean power-as-a-service.
    • Shell has not disclosed financial details of its acquisition of a 49% equity interest in WestWind.

Shell Australia media: +61 417 007 344

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We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this press release that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC.  Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.

 

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