
Hans, the recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report urged governments and society to act more rapidly and urgently to change the way we produce and consume energy to ensure a safer and more sustainable world for everyone, both now and in the future. Is it a wakeup call?
Well, it must be a wakeup call. What IPCC is telling the world is there is no more space for delays. I’d like to stress what our CEO, Ben van Beurden, always indicates: the only way to deal with climate change is through collaboration. We all - energy producers, consumers, traders or policymakers- need to work together and play our role in the energy transition journey.
So, do you see this collaboration between the various players in the energy markets taking place?
I see a very promising start. At Shell Energy Europe, we have a constant dialogue with our customers to ensure we have an integrated view of their energy needs. We sit with them to understand their needs for gas, power or environmental products, and we try to optimise the assets they may have to unveil common sources of value. Large energy consumers, industrials, retailers and producers are increasingly coming to us to discuss how they can decarbonise their energy use. And this is where collaboration and partnership stand out. We are best positioned to help because we know our customers. We understand their needs, and we regularly discuss the best ways to help them achieve their environmental commitments.
Indeed, according to research conducted by World Wildlife Fund, 63% of Fortune 100 companies and nearly half of Fortune 500 have set one or more clean energy targets. This suggests a promising dialogue between energy suppliers and consumers that will continue to grow in the future.
Do you think energy suppliers are ready to meet their customers’ needs for cleaner energy?
Shell Energy Europe is ready. Our integrated marketing and trading approach is very useful as we consider how best to meet our customers’ needs as they look to decarbonise their business. We are driven to develop solutions for both today and for the future.
What we are doing in the electricity space is a good example. The world needs to expand the use of electricity as more electricity allows more renewable generation to come into play. Shell Energy Europe is active in promoting the development of renewable generation capacity, supporting both Shell’s own projects and those from third parties.
Let me share a couple of examples to illustrate how we provide solutions for different tenors, geographies and renewable technologies. Shell is one of the partners of the Blauwwind Consortium for the Borssele III/IV wind farms in the Dutch North Sea. This project is designed to have a total installed capacity of 731.5 megawatts, enough to power about 825,000 Dutch homes. Shell Energy Europe has an agreement to buy half the electricity once the wind farms begin generating, and we are actively marketing our share to parties seeking to meet their renewable energy needs. In parallel, we work also with third party producers, where we have an established Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) business across Europe. In 2018, for instance, we signed a five-year deal with British Solar Renewables to buy all the electricity generated by Bradenstoke, the largest solar park in England.
We work with energy producers and consumers with a very simple goal: to develop products that are credible, functioning and cost-competitive.