In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
- Royal Dutch Shell executives quit due to discord over the oil giant’s green energy timeframe.
- As electric trucks gain popularity in the US, they’ll need maintenance and repair — Dickinson is preparing.
- UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
Shell green energy execs quit
The Financial Times reports that Royal Dutch Shell executives are quitting due to frustration with the depth and speed of the oil giant’s push into green energy:
Some executives have pushed for a more aggressive shift from oil but top management is more inclined to stick closer to the company’s current path, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The head of solar, storage, and onshore wind businesses who worked in the distributed energy division and an energy transition strategy team leader have left the company recently. The vice-president for offshore wind is due to depart. Several other top green energy executives also plan to exit in the next few months.
Not every move is known to be linked to frustration about the pace of change but people familiar with the internal debate said there were deep divisions over the timeframe for reducing the company’s dependence on oil and gas revenues, which had influenced at least some of the departing executives.
‘People are really questioning if there will be any change at all,’ said one of the people familiar with the internal tensions. ‘Part of the frustration is that you see the potential, but the mindset isn’t there among senior leaders for anything radical.’
Shell is due to detail how it will become a net zero company in February in its strategy update, so this internal conflict is going to complicate things. As the FT points out, it’s getting pressure from its investors to become net zero, and now it’s getting pressure from its own staff.
In other Shell green energy news, Silicon Ranch, the company’s US solar platform, has begun construction on two solar projects in southern Georgia. The utility-scale solar facilities include the 107-megawatt Snipesville II in southeastern Georgia and the 80 megawatt Lancaster Solar in the southwestern area of the state. Silicon Ranch is funding the solar farms, and St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Companies is constructing the projects. Both will provide energy to customer-owned power company Walton Electric Membership Corporation. It will in turn supply 100% green energy to Facebook’s data center in Newton County, Georgia.
Walton EMC and Silicon Ranch have executed six contracts totaling 435 MW of green energy generation for Facebook’s operations in Georgia.
Electric truck support
As the popularity and numbers of electric trucks grows in the US, they’ll need increased service support. Indianapolis-headquartered Dickinson Fleet Services (DFS) provides mobile onsite maintenance and repair services for light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks and trailers. It’s a large company that has more than 700 mobile units operating across the US — and it’s moving into the electric vehicle sector.
DFS has launched an EV service division, and also placed an initial order of five medium-duty electric service trucks with Los Angeles-based EV manufacturer Xos Trucks, who already supplies trucks to UPS and Loomis. Xos is helping to train up the Dickinson team on how to service EVs.
Kyle Coltrain, business development executive for Dickinson, said:
Xos has been a tremendous partner in educating our team on the maintenance of electric vehicles. We are proud to announce the launch of our EV Division, adding to our dynamic portfolio of service offerings.
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