Sonnen’s launch of its sonnenConnect programme at RE+ 2022. Image: Andy Colthorpe / Solar Media.

Oil and gas major Shell is putting its residential battery storage and virtual power plant (VPP) company sonnen up for sale, according to German outlet Handelsblatt.

The valuation for Germany-based sonnen, which provides residential battery storage solutions and aggregates them into VPPs across Europe and the US, could be between €1.35-1.8 billion (US$1.45-1.93 billion). It is apparently looking for buyers to take at least 51% of the business if not the entire thing.

The decision is part of Shell’s move away from doing business with retail customers, the Handelsblatt report said, as well as a “ruthless focus on performance”. It reportedly paid around €500 million for sonnen back in 2019.

As reported by our sister site Current, Shell this week sold its entire retail electricity customer business in Germany and the UK to British rival Octopus Energy. Profits in retail electricity have fallen as wholesale energy prices have risen, although Shell has made huge profits from its core oil and gas business in the past few years.

Sonnen is expected to clock sales of around €450 million in 2023. The firm recently revealed that its VPP network of residential batteries in Germany has reached 250MWh of combined capacity, and is expected to reach 1GWh in the next few years.

Energy-Storage.news interviewed the CEO of sonnen Inc, the US arm of the company, Blake Richetta, last year at the RE+ renewable energy expo and conference.

Sonnen has been asked to comment and this article will be updated if and when a response is receive