Dive Brief:
- Global oil giant Shell announced Monday that it is selling Sprng Energy, its India-based renewable energy business, for $1.8 billion. Aditya Birla Renewables Limited, backed by the BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners will purchase the portfolio.
- Shell is selling Aditya Birla 100% of its stake in Solenergi Power Private Limited, which includes Sprng Energy, according to a Monday press release. The deal includes the Sprng Energy’s physical assets and commercial contracts.
- The sale of the India-based renewable energy developer comes after Shell announced in November that it would sell “a substantial portion” of its electric vehicle charging network.
Dive Insight:
Shell completed its acquisition of Solenergi and the Sprng group of companies in August 2022, which it said at the time will help it “reach its target of becoming a profitable net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.” In 2024, Shell proposed a diluted energy transition strategy — which shareholders later approved — that scrapped a 2035 decarbonization goal and scaled back a 2030 goal to reduce the net carbon intensity of its energy products.
Machteld de Haan, Shell’s president of downstream renewables and energy solutions, said in Monday’s release that the sale of Sprng to Aditya Birla Renewables “reflects Shell’s continued focus on adjusting the portfolio in our power business.”
The company announced at its 2025 capital markets day that it was targeting a 10% return on average capital employed by 2030, and Haan said the deal "is another step in building a more focused, competitive and resilient business while improving returns year on year towards 2030.”
Aditya Birla Renewables develops and operates a portfolio of solar, wind, hybrid, floating solar and battery storage projects across India. Sprng energy will continue to run under the new ownership and has a 5 gigawatt portfolio that includes 3.3 GW peak of operational solar and wind capacity and 1.7 GW of contracted energy, according to the release.
Aditya Birla Group Chair Kumar Mangalam Birla said in a separate release that the transaction “brings together two highly complementary platforms and marks an important milestone” in the evolution of Aditya’s renewables business.
“Together, we will have a diversified portfolio and a deep development pipeline that puts us on course to scale to 20 [gigawatts peak] in the coming years,” Birla said. “More importantly, it positions us to participate meaningfully in one of the largest energy transformations underway anywhere in the world [in India].”
GIP — which BlackRock bought for $12.5 billion in 2024 — is a strategic investor in Aditya’s renewables platform, having purchased a minority stake in the company in December for up to $335 million.
The companies expect the deal to close before the end of 2026.
While Shell has a 2050 net-zero emissions target, the energy company said in the press release that its operating plan and outlook “cannot reflect this target” because they operate on three- and ten-year time horizons, respectively.
“In the future, as society moves towards net-zero emissions, we expect Shell’s operating plans and outlooks to reflect this movement,” Shell noted in the announcement. “However, if society is not net zero in 2050, as of today, there would be significant risk that Shell may not meet this target.”
Shell said its operating plan and outlook are updated annually and currently reflect its 2030 goals to halve its combined scope 1 and scope 2 emissions and reduce the net-carbon intensity of its products by 15-20%, both compared to 2016 baselines. The company said its future plans and outlooks could include the use of carbon capture and storage and carbon credits, in addition to portfolio changes and efficiency updates.
