BP says renewables will account for 30% of global power by 2030 while predicting the rapid demise of coal and declines in both gas and nuclear.

Shell’s diversification strategy is being implemented through Shell’s New Energies Division, which is focused on electricity – rather than liquid fuels – to power future fleets of cars and light duty vehicles.

(Listen to our podcast interview with Brian Davis, the head of Shell’s new energy solutions business here).

This, you might say, is oceans apart from what the rest of Shell’s organization does.

Explaining its latest acquisition, Mark Gainsborough, the executive vice president of New Energies said, “Sonnen is one of the global leaders in smart, distributed energy storage systems and has a track record of customer-focused innovation.

Full ownership of Sonnen will allow us to offer more choice to customers seeking reliable, affordable and cleaner energy.”

Welcoming Shell’s acquisition and its deep pocket, Christoph Ostermann, the CEO and co-founder of Sonnen, said Shell was the “perfect partner” to support growth in a rapidly expanding market.

“With this investment we’re excited to help more households to become energy independent and benefit from new opportunities in the energy market. Shell will help drive the growth of Sonnen to a new level and help speed up the transformation of the energy system.”

In a later statement, Sonnen announced that it was planning to scale up rapidly in new markets, expecting to scale up production 5 to 10 fold in the next 24 months.

Clearly, Sonnen will no longer have to worry about where its next round of investments will come from.

Shortly after, Shell acquired energy technology company LimeJump, a digital energy platform which uses its portfolio of batteries to provide demand-response services using cloud-based software – according to a press release.

LimeJump said that it will continue to focus on its “three main objectives: paving the way to a more sustainable energy future; maximizing revenue streams for all decentralized asset owners; and utilizing data science and technology to enhance the interplay between renewable supply, demand flexibility and energy storage.”

Shell has said it wants to double its investments in low-carbon energy technologies to $4 billion/yr – small change for Shell but a huge fortune if you are a struggling Silicon Valley start-up.