Shell staff 'air fears over renewable energy strategy' to CEO Sawan - Recharge
Shell staff 'air fears over renewable energy strategy' to CEO Sawan | Recharge
Shell employees have openly aired concerns over the oil giant’s energy transition strategy and urged CEO Wael Sawan not to retreat from renewables, it was reported.
An open letter to Sawan from two employees in Shell’s low-carbon division was posted and widely debated on its intranet, according to Reuters, which said it had seen the contents.
"For a long time, it has been Shell's ambition to be a leader in the energy transition. It is the reason we work here," the letter reportedly said before expressing worries over the direction of the company.
Shell’s green energy plans have been in the spotlight since Sawan took over at the start of this year and oversaw a refocusing on its core hydrocarbons operations.
The company has this year disposed of several power sector interests and is said to be looking to sell Sonnen, the German battery storage group.
Renewable executives including former Orsted high-flyer Thomas Brostrom, brought in to spearhead Shell’s renewables charge, have left the oil & gas group.
Sawan himself reportedly waded into the debate over the letter, saying “there are no easy answers and no shortage of dilemmas or challenge" when it comes to the energy transition.
Shell told Reuters: "We appreciate that our staff are engaged in and have passion for both the energy transition and Shell... Shell is playing a meaningful role in addressing the energy transition.”
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: renewables
Renewable energy sources — once the fuel of the future, then practical in specific, narrow applications — are increasingly economic mainstream sources of power generation. Hydropower was long the mainstay of U.S. renewable electricity generation, although wind power surpassed hydro for the first time in 2019, and solar continues its rapid growth. The continued growth of wind and solar, with their fluctuations, is tied in part to improvements in storage technology: batteries.