Powering emerging markets
In the years to come, emerging economies present some of the fastest-growing power markets in the world. Shell’s Emerging Markets Power business is looking to support countries where the largest gaps to energy access remain, by building an integrated sustainable power infrastructure with services, offerings, and solutions that help to provide electricity, advance the energy transition, and improve lives.
How is Shell building its power portfolio in emerging markets?
Shell’s Emerging Markets Power (EMP) business focuses on Africa and Southeast Asia. Our approach is to build an integrated sustainable power business in emerging markets, helping customers access electricity from cleaner sources. This includes decentralized systems such as mini-grids and solar home systems.
Our approach addresses two gaps in the emerging power markets – improving the reliability of power to on-grid customers and providing first-time power to off-grid customers and communities. We are seeking to invest in companies, technologies, and business models that show real potential to be developed on a larger scale and which could form part of an interconnected power system. The efforts of this business contribute to Shell’s Powering Progress strategy to reduce emissions from the products we sell our customers.
To date, the EMP team has invested in seven companies that specialize in solar home systems, mini-grids, and rooftop solar, as well as aspects that support power provision to customers, such as smart metering and debt financing. We are also looking to develop large-scale power projects in key markets.
In 2022, we acquired Daystar Power, a provider of solar power to businesses in West Africa. Daystar Power provides on-site hybrid solar power solutions to large commercial and industrial customers, offering a wide range of options from small systems to megawatt-scale plants.
The transformative power of energy
Affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all – as outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7.1. – is a key enabler for human and economic development. Today, about 685 million people do not have access to electricity and 2.1 billion people lack access to clean cooking facilities.
To help create positive energy access impact for people in key regions over the coming years, bp, Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies have come together with a $500 million joint investment commitment.
The joint investment seeks to support promising, high-impact projects, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, aiming to help millions of people in underserved communities get access to electricity and improved cooking conditions (as defined by the World Bank Multi-Tier Framework).
