Shell is reportedly poised to try to sell Sonnen, the rival to Tesla in the energy storage market it bought in 2019 at the height of a charge into the power sector that now looks to have gone into reverse.
The UK oil supermajor will seek to divest either all or a majority stake in Sonnen, which it acquired for €500m ($535m), according to the Handelsblatt newspaper in Germany, where the company is based.
Sonnen is a rival to US giant Tesla in sectors such as home energy and 'virtual' power storage networks. Sonnen said earlier this year it soon hopes to have 1GWh of virtual storage in place to help support power grids.
Shell's deal for Sonnen came amid a string of energy transition acquisitions in 2019, when the supermajor was openly proclaiming ambitions to be a global force in the power and utility sectors.
The company has under new CEO Wael Sawan this year placed far greater emphasis on its core hydrocarbons operations. It last week agreed the sale of its UK and German retail energy business to Octopus Energy, while 2023 has also seen the departure of several top offshore wind executives.
Shell declined to comment on the Sonnen report when approached by Recharge.
