Shell has become the latest global energy giant to set its sights on the UK’s commercial power market.
The company this morning confirmed that it is to begin suppling industrial customers throughout the UK from its Shell Energy Europe arm having secured a licence from industry regulator Ofgem.
The power is to come predominantly from wind and solar farms in the UK.
Shell Energy Europe was formed following the merger of Shell’s gas marketing and trading business in 2009 and has been an active presence in the power trading and wholesale market for a number of years.
Jonathan McCloy, general manager for North West Europe at Shell Energy Europe, said it planned to begin supplying power to large industrial complexes from early 2018.
“The decision to offer power supply directly to end users in Great Britain’s industrial and commercial sector reinforces our strategy to boost our position in Europe’s electricity market,” McCloy said.
And Clean Energy News understands that Shell has been quietly expanding its clean energy team over the course of the past year in anticipation of the launch.
Shell will join other energy majors in taking aim at the UK’s competitive energy supply market, following on from the likes of Vattenfall who earlier this year launched a new supply division dubbed ‘FRESH’.
Shell’s major oil rival BP has also gotten in on the act as a major shareholder in Pure Planet, a ‘digital’ clean energy utility founded earlier this year by the team behind Virgin Mobile.
