On Monday, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it is going to acquire a 43.86-percent stake in a Nashville-based solar plant company called Silicon Ranch Corporation. The deal could cost up to $217 million, according to Reuters.

The Netherlands-based oil and gas company is one of the biggest companies in the world, and, by its own account, it recorded revenue of $233.6 billion in 2016 and $4.8 billion in net income. The $217 million it has set aside for a US-based solar investment is a small fraction of that, but it does reflect some willingness to acknowledge a future, however far out, in which oil and gas may not dominate energy and transportation sectors.

The move follows oil and gas giant BP (formerly British Petroleum), which invested $200 million in European solar development company Lightsource just a month ago.
Currently, Silicon Ranch has 880 megawatts of solar capacity installed in 14 states in the US. In 2016, Shell established its “New Energies” division to prepare for a future in which governments crack down on carbon-intensive fuel and energy. “In November, Shell doubled its planned investment in its new energies division… to $1 billion-$2 billion until 2020,” Reuters notes.

Shell has also been trying to leverage its business expertise in gasoline production and sales by funding pilot hydrogen fuel cell projects.

Reuters notes that this isn’t Shell’s first entry into the solar market: “Shell first entered the solar sector when it acquired Siemens Solar in 2002, only to sell the entire business six years later. It still retains a tiny stake in Showa Shell’s solar business after selling most of the business in 2016.”

Still, Shell is hardly on the forefront when it comes to slowing carbon emissions. Today, the company also announced its first investment in UK North Sea oil fields in six years, which will include eight new wells and a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel.

“Peak production will be the equivalent of 45,000 barrels a day, with a break-even price of less than $40 a barrel,” Bloomberg reported.

Last week, New York City sued Shell and a number of other oil companies for the cost of adapting to climate change. The city also promised to divest its pension funds from oil companies.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/01/shell-invests-in-nashville-solar-firm-but-its-no-less-an-oil-company/

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