Global fossil fuel major Shell will acquire German home battery startup Sonnen, staking a claim on the home energy storage market and further expanding its ever-increasing footprint in the clean energy industry.
Sonnen is an emerging player in Australia’s energy market, establishing a base at the former GM-Holden car factory site in the north of the South Australia state capital, Adelaide, to manufacture batteries for installation in homes.
Sonnen distinguished itself in the early home storage market, with thousands of units deployed across Germany, and a notable presence elsewhere in Europe, the United States and Australia.
Besides storing solar power for homeowners, Sonnen aggregates its installations into controllable networks of grid resources.
It would be hard to overstate the opportunities that arise from teaming up with a global energy giant.
Shell manages a full stack of energy services, including generation, trading and customer relationships. It could integrate energy storage with a number of other services.
The backing of Shell could propel Sonnen to new scale and customer awareness as it competes with Tesla’s Powerwall and LG Chem’s RESU for customers that want to control their home energy.
The purchase for an undisclosed sum will be subject to regulatory approval, but has been welcomed by renewable energy advocates as a positive step for the sector as well as consumers.
“Sonnen is one of the global leaders in smart, distributed energy storage systems,” Mark Gainsborough, executive vice-president of Shell’s new energies division, said in a statement.
“Full ownership of Sonnen will allow us to offer more choice to customers seeking reliable, affordable and cleaner energy.”
The acquisition escalates Shell’s involvement in futuristic grid startups.
In just the past month, the company invested in a novel flying turbine wind power venture called Makani Power, and acquired Greenlots, a major US electric vehicle charging company.
Shell first invested in Sonnen in May 2018 as the leader of a US$71 million round.
That brought Sonnen’s total funding to about US$180 million, but the companies did not disclose the price paid for full acquisition.
Sonnen will retain its independent branding, and CEO Christoph Ostermann said the investment would allow the company to boost production.
“Shell will help drive the growth of Sonnen to a new level and help speed up the transformation of the energy system,” he said.
Sonnen officially opened its home battery assembly site at the Adelaide factory in November last year.
Shell established its new energies wing in 2016, with the company committing to diversify into renewable energy as part of a strategy to reduce its carbon footprint.
