Daystar Power, which operates in Nigeria, Ghana and three other countries across west Africa, provides solar power and battery solutions to business and industry across the region, including Nigerian Bottling Co, makers of Coca-Cola in the country.
Shell has made its first power sector acquisition in Africa with the purchase of a Nigerian renewable energy provider, as the oil major seeks to build out a green energy business that will eventually reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
The Daystar acquisition is said to be significantly smaller than either of those deals. The Nigerian company has an installed generating capacity of about 32 megawatts, compared with the 2 gigawatts operated by Sprng in India. Daystar has raised $92mn in funding since its inception in 2017, including a $20mn facility from the Washington-based International Finance Corp last year.
Shell has a long and complicated record in Nigeria. It was the first company to discover oil in the country in 1956 and has pioneered the development of the sector in the decades since. But in recent years, it has struggled to manage criminality and environmental issues at several of its projects, provoking criticism from civil society groups.
Renewable energy, particularly solar power, is seen as a potentially transformative technology in Africa, where about 600mn people, or 43 per cent of the population, lack access to electricity.