OMNI Features｜Shell Plans Job Cuts in Offshore Wind Business as CEO Refocuses on Oil and Gas．China National Nuclear Power Starts Work on the Largest Domastic Offshore Solar Farm

(Source: Shell)

｜Shell Plans Job Cuts in Offshore Wind Business as CEO Refocuses on Oil and Gas
Shell Plc is preparing to cut staff from its offshore wind business as Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan moves the company away from the capital-intensive renewable energy sector. The British oil major is set to begin the layoffs within months, mainly in Europe.

Shell had been spending heavily in offshore wind, aiming to leverage its experience extracting oil and gas at sea to become a leader in the technology. But soaring costs in the sector and a renewed focus on driving returns for shareholders under Sawan has led the company to back away from the green-energy source.

Since Sawan took on the CEO role at the beginning of last year, he's put pressure on business divisions to improve performance and profitability. In June 2023, he laid out a plan to reduce "structural costs" by as much as $3 billion by the end of 2025. The cuts to offshore wind follow layoffs that started in the low-carbon solutions unit earlier this year.

｜China National Nuclear Power Starts Work on the Largest Domastic Offshore Solar Farm
China National Nuclear Power (CNNP) has kicked off construction of the nation's largest offshore floating solar farm. The 2 gigawatt (GW) pilot project is coming up on mud flats next to its nuclear power station in Tianwan, in eastern Jiangsu province.

The solar farm will include a 0.4 GW energy-storage facility. Together, the project will cost 9.88 billion yuan (US$ 1.4 billion). Its solar panels will cover 18.8 square kilometres, slightly larger than Hong Kong's Tseung Kwan O district. CNNP has a 90 percent stake in the project. CNNP operates 25 nuclear power generating units with a total generating capacity of 23.8GW as of last year. Another 15 units totalling 17.6GW are under construction.

Nuclear accounted for 4.8 per cent of China's total power generation last year, wind 8.8 per cent and solar 4.9 per cent, while 58.4 per cent came from coal-fired plants, according to China Electricity Council.

Reference: World Oil｜South China Morning Postt