Shell invests in Sonnen to drive distributed energy aims forward

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Sonnen CEO Ostermann also disclosed that the investment would enable sonnen to pursue expansion plans predominantly in the US and Australia, but also to ramp-up the development of its domestic aggregated storage platform sonnencommunity, its nascent virtual power plant solution and its grid-related services initiative. Image: Sonnen.

Shell has continued to scale-up its interest in distributed energy by participating in a €60 million (US$70.23 million) investment round by German battery storage firm sonnen.

Sonnen’s chief executive Christoph Ostermann told Reuters that Shell Ventures, the division of Royal Dutch Shell tasked with supporting innovative energy companies, would be among those participating in its latest investment round alongside existing shareholders.

And in a statement issued to Solar Media’s freshly launched clean energy site Current± this morning Brian Davis, vice president for energy solutions at Shell, confirmed the move.

“This investment enables us to combine Shell’s power business activities with sonnen’s high quality, innovative products and business model to enhance our consumer energy offerings. This is in line with our strategy to partner with leading companies to deliver more and cleaner energy solutions to our customers,” he said.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Ostermann also disclosed that the investment would enable sonnen to pursue expansion plans predominantly in the US and Australia, but also to ramp-up the development of its domestic aggregated storage platform sonnencommunity, its nascent virtual power plant solution and its grid-related services initiative. Back in 2016, Energy-Storage.News interviewed Ostermann as Sonnen netted US$85 million in a previous funding round when the CEO said expansion, internationalisation and development of innovative service and business models would be the focus for that cash.

The investment is however particularly interesting from Shell’s perspective given its recent moves into the domestic energy market.

In March this year Shell completed its acquisition of First Utility, one of the UK’s small- to medium-sized suppliers as part of a much wider consumer play.

When it first announced the deal in December 2017, Shell said its energy supply, trading and marketing expertise would enable First Utility to grow beyond its 825,000 customers and hoped to develop “more innovative” services for its customers.

“This combination will enable Shell to enter a new part of the energy market in the UK and to improve choice for customers by delivering innovative services at competitive prices,” Mark Gainsborough, executive VP of new energies at Shell, said at the time.

If Shell were to offer sonnen batteries to First Utility customers it would follow a path well-trodden by other utilities over the course of the past year. The likes of EDF, E.On and Ovo Energy have all partnered with battery manufacturers to offer domestic services, usually alongside rooftop solar and/or home energy management solutions.

The oil and gas major has made other recent investments into other areas of distributed energy solutions that include energy storage. The company has just invested in Axiom Exergy, a US manufacturer of energy storage units that use stored energy for cooling buildings and produce, while at the beginning of the year Shell joined European utility ENGIE were among investors putting US$20 million into Husk Power Systems, a developer of microgrids which is expanding its efforts in Asia and Africa.

Industry-watchers have been expectant on further acquisitions and major investments in the space by big fossil fuel players since the 2016 acquisition of storage and battery maker Saft by Total.

Read Next

September 4, 2025
Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has announced its largest-ever investment commitment, with AU$3.8 billion (US$2.5 billion) allocated to support the Marinus Link interconnector connecting the states of Tasmania and Victoria.
September 2, 2025
“The speed at which the grid-forming inverters are operating means that standby consumption will be higher,” said Dave Bowly of AGL.
August 29, 2025
The Australian government has opened two CIS tenders in Western Australia, targeting 2.4GWh of energy storage and 1.6GW of renewables.
August 27, 2025
“Battery energy storage systems (BESS) typically change ownership between two and four times during their 40-year lifecycle,” John Sheehy, CEO of Pottinger, said on day two of the Battery Asset Management Summit Australia 2025 this morning.
August 26, 2025
After an initial rush to deploy that gave CAISO and ERCOT the lead in US BESS adoption, both markets are focused on capacity and availability, writes Amit Mathrani of Rabobank Americas.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter