Shell in race for $1.1 billion Spanish green energy projects

Madrid, April 9 (BNA): Oil major Shell and utility companies Naturegy (NTGY.MC) and Verbund (VERB.VI) are preparing binding bids for the purchase of renewable energy assets in Spain valued at nearly one billion euros ($1.1 billion), three sources close to said. From the command to Reuters.

Spanish fund manager Q-Energy is selling the portfolio, capitalizing on strong appetite among European energy companies that are feeling increasing pressure from investors and governments to tackle climate change, Reuters reports.

Competition for market share is increasing as oil and gas companies have set ambitious green targets, jostling with existing utilities and renewable energy companies to lead the energy transition.

The sources said the binding bids would expire at the end of April.

Shell, Naturgy and Q-Energy declined to comment. Verbund did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One of the sources said that the assets for sale consist mainly of solar energy projects, which are scattered near Guadalajara in central Spain all the way to the sunny southern coastal region of Andalusia.

The winning bidder is also likely to take over a team of about 25 people to develop the assets, the sources said.

Shell has made a number of solar energy acquisitions and this year won licenses with Iberdrola (IBE.MC) Scottish Power to develop wind farms in the British North Sea.

Naturgy changed its name from Gas Natural in 2018 and has since developed a plan to focus on renewable energy and distribution networks. Verbund generated 90% of its electricity from renewable sources last year and said it was looking at opportunities to increase its investment in the sector.

One of the sources said that the portfolio being sold includes about 75 megawatts of solar energy, which is covered by an old support system that guarantees basic profits of about 60 million euros annually.

The sources said that the project also includes development projects that will have a capacity of about 3.6 gigawatts of electricity once construction is completed. More than half of this already has permissions to connect to the network.

One gigawatt of energy is roughly equivalent to the average output of a nuclear power plant.

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