Global energy giant Shell is continuing its push deeper into Australia’s power market with a deal to buy a significant stake in wind-farm developer WestWind.

The acquisition, set to be announced on Tuesday, marks an acceleration of the London-based oil and gas giant’s efforts to build up its power generation and retailing businesses in Australia to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the green-energy revolution.

Shell Australia’s chairman, Tony Nunan, said the company was acquiring a 49 per cent interest in WestWind, which has 600 megawatts of wind farm projects already producing energy across the country and a pipeline of 3000 megawatts of new projects spanning Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

“That’s the bit that excites us – to be able to join with WestWind and partner with them as they bring that funnel towards development,” Mr Nunan said.

Shell is one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets in Queensland and off the coast of Western Australia. Like many other global energy majors that make nearly all of their profits from fossil fuels, Shell is using its scale in oil and gas to build up its power businesses across America, Europe and Australia and diversify into wind, solar, hydrogen and other clean-energy technologies.

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In 2019, Shell bought into the Australian power market by acquiring ERM, the nation’s second-largest electricity supplier to commercial and industrial customers. It is also developing the Gangarri solar farm in Queensland, has bought a local carbon farming company and this year completed its acquisition of energy retailer Powershop.

“Australia is a core market for us,” said Mr Nunan, adding that Shell would continue scanning the market for other merger-and-acquisition opportunities.

“Where we see an opportunity that makes sense, that we can see a connection to our customers, where we can help them to decarbonise, we’ll go after it.”