Shell Energy Australia provides gas, electricity, environmental products and energy productivity services to commercial and industrial customers.

History

ERM Power was founded by

Trevor St Baker Trevor Charles St Baker is an Australian businessperson with interests in power station and fuel supply development. He is director of the St Baker Energy Trust and chair of Sunset Power International (trading as Delta Electricity). He is foun ...

as a specialist Australian energy advisory firm in 1980. The company transformed into a power development company in the mid-1990s to capture opportunities arising from the deregulation of the Australian electricity industry.Prospectus
ERM Power 17 November 2010 In 2007 the company diversified into electricity retailing in response to further privatisation and vertical integration of the Australian energy industry. ERM Power listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary Exchange (organized market), securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or c ...

on 10 December 2010. It launched the ERM Business Energy brand in 2012, commenced retailing to the small and medium enterprise (SME) market in 2013 and entered the U.S. retail electricity market by acquiring Source Power & Gas headquartered in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in 2015.

Shell Australia Shell Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Shell. Shell has operated in Australia since 1901, initially delivering bulk fuel into Australia, then establishing storage and distribution terminals, oil refineries, and a network of service sta ...

acquired ERM Power in November 2019 with the company delisted from the ASX. ERM Power was rebranded as Shell Energy in February 2021.

Core business

Shell Energy retails electricity to large commercial and industrial energy users in Australia (except for Northern Territory) and gas to commercial and industrial energy users in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Shell Energy owns two gas-fired peaking power stations in

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, and Neerabup,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, and is developing a 120-megawatt

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

development in Queensland. In February 2022 Shell Energy acquired residential energy retailer Powershop Australia.

Projects in development

Gangarri Solar Development, a 120-megawatt solar energy development, located in inland Queensland. Gangarri will generate solar power from about 330,000 photovoltaic panels that turn sunlight into electricity – enough to run 50,000 homes. It will reduce emissions by around 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum. In January 2023 Shell Energy acquired the development rights for a 500MW/1000MWh Battery Energy Storage System project, located within the former

Wallerawang Power Station Wallerawang Power Station was a thermal coal power station, located near Wallerawang, in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The power station was equipped with two turbo-alternators of each, supplied by CA Parsons & ...

site near Lithgow. In October 2022 the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced $9.1 million in funding to Shell Energy to implement load control across at least 40 commercial and industrial customer sites to demonstrate flexible demand capacity. In October 2022 Shell Energy announced it would jointly develop one of the largest energy storage projects in NSW, partnering with AMPYR Australia on a 500MW/1000MWh battery located in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. Also in October 2022, Shell Energy entered into a 50/50 joint partnership with Foresight Group to acquire Kondinin Energy. This acquisition was Shell’s first Western Australian renewables development – and first Western Australian wind project. The Kondinin Energy project is located approximately 245 km east of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and comprises various stages of 370MW of developments across wind, solar and battery energy storage system assets. In May 2021 the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

announced that Shell Energy and Edify Energy had been awarded a 10-year contract, including a 60MW/120MWh retail contract coupled with a 100-megawatt Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). The project has been dubbed the 'Riverina Energy Storage System (RESS)' and will be built alongside Edify's 333MW

Darlington Point Solar Farm Darlington Point Solar Farm is a photovoltaic power station, located 10 km south of the town of Darlington Point in New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the E ...

. The NSW Government noted that the RESS would help to mitigate the region's energy supply concerns due to the planned closure of the coal-powered

Liddell Power Station Liddell Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired thermal power station that had four EE steam-driven turbine alternators, providing a combined electrical capacity of . Its operating capacity was assessed at in April 2018. Commissioned ...

in 2023.

Generation

Shell Energy operates

Oakey Power Station The Oakey Power Station is a 282 MW power station located at Oakey on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland, adjacent to the Roma to Brisbane Pipeline. The station is an open-cycle, dual liquid/gas-fired power station that typically op ...

, a 332-megawatt peaking power station located at

Oakey Oakey is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. The Oakey Army Aviation Centre, Museum of Army Aviation is located at Oakey Airport. In the , the locality of Oakey had a pop ...

in Queensland, and Neerabup Power Station, a 330-megawatt peaking power station in Western Australia which opened in 2009 at a cost of $435 million.

Net-zero ambitions

Shell's target is to become a

net zero Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society's progress in achieving the goal of the UN Paris Agreement on climate change. As part of this commitment, ERM Power secured funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to help manufacturing businesses in Queensland understand what is required to make the switch to clean energy. Its $600,000 programme included $250,000 in ARENA funding. In October 2022, ARENA announced $9.1 million in funding to Shell Energy as part of the $31.6 million ‘Commercialising Smart Energy Hubs’ project. Shell Energy will implement load control across at least 40 commercial and industrial sites in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria to demonstrate an estimated 21.5 MW of flexible demand capacity.ARENA (14 October 2022)
Unlocking flexible demand at commercial and industrial sites
Retrieved 16 February 2022

References

External links

* {{Shell plc Australian subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in Brisbane Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Electric power companies of Australia Energy in Australia Non-renewable resource companies established in 1980 Shell plc subsidiaries 1980 establishments in Australia