FILE PHOTO: The Royal Dutch Shell logo is seen at a Shell petrol station in London, January 31, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
NEW YORK: Shell Plc executives are telling their renewable power business that it needs to become more profitable, not just deliver lower carbon emissions, and pull back from the less successful elements of its clean-energy strategy.
That was the message from Steve Hill, executive vice-president of Shell Energy, at an internal town hall for his team last Wednesday, according to comments from the meeting reviewed by Bloomberg.
It’s part of a revamped strategy from new chief executive officer Wael Sawan that will be fully revealed in June, as he seeks to improve Shell’s performance and eliminate businesses that aren’t producing adequate returns.
Hill’s Shell Energy unit includes the renewable power business. While the company’s efforts in green electricity have been an exercise in learning and experimenting to find where it can be successful, now they need to show results, he said at the meeting.
“Delivery will be the mandate of the organisation going forward,” Hill told the gathering.
“The things we’ve been less successful with, we need to scale back or stop.”
A spokesman for Shell declined to comment.
Shell has already provided some evidence of this strategy in recent months. It has announced a strategic review of its money-losing European retail energy business and put it up for sale. — Bloomberg
