Big oil buying into green

2018 looks set to be another big year in renewables deal-making for the oil majors

Shell took another big leap into the renewables business this week with the purchase of a 43.8% stake in private equity backed US solar developer Silicon Ranch in a deal worth as much as $217m. Silicon Ranch operates a slew of solar projects across California and the northeast, and has more recently turned its attention to the southeastern states of Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, where the solar industry is less developed. The company has 880 megawatts of installed capacity with another 1 gigawatt in the pipeline, which will vault it into the upper echelon of US solar developers. The deal gives Shell an option to increase its stake in Silicon Ranch in 2021. It is the latest move from Sh