Sprng Energy changes hands again: Timeline of Shell’s $1.8 billion sale to Aditya Birla Group | Today’s news
Indian renewable energy platform Sprng Energy has changed hands twice in less than four years. In the latest chapter of its ownership journey, Shell Plc on Monday announced the sale of Sprng Energy to Aditya Birla Renewables Ltd (ABRen) for a business value of $1.8 billion.
Here is a timeline of Sprng Energy’s development since its inception.
January 2017: Actis establishes Sprng Energy.
August 2022: Actis sells Sprng Energy to Shell for an enterprise value of $1.55 billion.
2023: Aditya Birla Group hires Standard Chartered to sell up to 49% stake in its renewable energy business.
January 2023: Wael Sawan takes over as CEO of Shell and begins to shift away from green energy investments towards higher return fossil fuel businesses.
March 2024: Shell says it would reduce emissions slowly.
October 2024: You get the Great Atlantic Act.
2024: Qatar’s Nebras Power is shelving its plan to acquire up to a 49% stake in Aditya Birla Group’s renewable energy business for around $400 million.
October 2025: Shell sells its 49% stake in pan-Asian solar developer Cleantech Solar to Singapore’s Keppel Ltd.
2025: Actis, Blackstone and Brookfield are among those interested in the process to sell Sprng Energy to Shell, which will be managed by Barclays.
July 2026: Aditya Birla Renewables Ltd (ABRen), a subsidiary of Grasim Industries Ltd, acquires Sprng Energy from Shell for an enterprise value of USD 1.8 billion.
Sprng Energy has an operating capacity of 3.3 gigawatts (GW), with another 1.7 GW under construction. After the acquisition, Aditya Birla Renewables Ltd’s renewable energy capacity will increase to around 9.3 GW, according to a statement from the Aditya Birla Group.
The acquisition will make ABRL the fifth largest renewable energy company in India after Adani Green Energy, ReNew Power, Tata Power and NTPC Green Energy.
According to Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, the acquisition is in line with the company’s ambition to build 20 GW of renewable energy capacity in the coming years.
“This acquisition brings together two highly complementary platforms and represents an important milestone in ABRen’s development. Together, we will have a diversified portfolio and a deep development pipeline that will position us for 20 GWp+ in the coming years. More importantly, it positions us to participate meaningfully in one of the largest energy transformations taking place anywhere in the world,” he said.
Renewable energy investment in India has gained momentum as the government targets 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. India currently has about 275 GW of renewable energy capacity and 297 GW of total non-fossil fuel capacity.
