Wednesday, 5 August 2026

Shell plc reported Q2 2026 Adjusted Earnings of $9.8 billion and commenced another $3 billion of share buybacks, according to the company's second-quarter press release published via GlobeNewswire.

The buyback tranche marks the 19th consecutive quarter in which Shell has announced at least $3 billion of repurchases. The company said the programme is in line with its policy of distributing 40-50% of cash flow from operations through the cycle.

Cash flow from operations reached $21.4 billion in the quarter, which Shell attributed to higher realised prices and a working capital inflow of $3.4 billion.

Shell described the earnings figure as reflecting strong operational performance across its businesses despite Middle East outages, citing record upstream production in Brazil and record refinery utilisation.

Gearing stood at 19%, on net debt of $42 billion, or $12 billion excluding leases. Shell characterised the position as a strong balance sheet.

The capital expenditure outlook for the year was left unchanged at $24 billion to $26 billion.

On costs, Shell said it has achieved structural cost reductions of $5.8 billion since 2022, including roughly $700 million delivered in the first half of 2026.

T1 Energy has agreed to deliver 641 MW of solar modules to Clearway Energy Group, according to Solar Builder. The manufacturer is based in Austin, Texas, and produces both solar and battery products.

Under the terms reported by Solar Builder, T1 Energy will supply solar cells made at its G2_Austin manufacturing facility. The 641 MW volume covers modules destined for Clearway.

Dan Barcelo, chairman and chief executive officer of T1 Energy, called the arrangement "a strategic partnership with Clearway, a leading energy developer that is adding needed gigawatts to U.S. grids".

T1 Energy officials told Solar Builder the company expects to offer products containing over 60% domestic content by 2027. That threshold matters for developers seeking to qualify projects under domestic content rules, and it depends on cell production moving inside the United States rather than being imported for assembly.

The cell-level sourcing is the operative detail. Module assembly alone carries a lower share of a panel's value than cell manufacturing, so a supply deal specifying cells from G2_Austin gives Clearway a different content profile than one built on imported cells.

Sonnedix has closed a EUR 730 million financing package covering the refinancing, optimization and construction of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) assets in Italy, Spain, Portugal and France, according to ESS News.

The package covers roughly 540 MW of PV plants plus two BESS assets spread across the four countries, ESS News reported. The single facility therefore mixes three distinct uses: paying down existing debt, upgrading operating plants, and funding assets still under construction.

Nine banks joined the transaction, per ESS News: AIB, Crédit Agricole CIB, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, ING, Intesa Sanpaolo, Sabadell, Santander CIB, Societe Generale and UniCredit.

The financing follows a purchase last month. In July, Sonnedix bought a 260 MW/1,040 MWh BESS portfolio at Tuscania, in Lazio, from Sphera Energy, ESS News reported. That portfolio carries four hours of duration at full power output, a configuration suited to shifting midday solar generation into evening demand.

The geographic footprint of the EUR 730 million facility spans the same market where the Tuscania batteries sit, alongside three others. Two BESS assets are inside the financed perimeter, against the 540 MW of PV capacity that makes up the bulk of the collateral.

Frontline plc has agreed to sell two very large crude carriers built in 2017 for an aggregate price of USD 270 million, according to a GlobeNewswire release.

The two vessels are expected to be delivered to the new owner during the third quarter of 2026, the release said.

Frontline expects the transaction to generate net cash proceeds of approximately USD 179 million after repayment of existing debt secured on the vessels, according to the same release.

The aggregate sale price covers both tankers.

Par Pacific Holdings reported net income attributable to stockholders of USD 462.1 million, or USD 9.35 per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, against USD 59.5 million, or USD 1.17 per diluted share, in the same quarter of 2025.

The swing was driven by the Refining segment, which posted operating income of USD 629.9 million for the quarter, compared with USD 81.3 million a year earlier, according to the company's results release distributed by GlobeNewswire.

Adjusted EBITDA came in at USD 571.3 million for the second quarter of 2026, versus USD 137.8 million in the second quarter of 2025.

The earnings gain did not come from higher runs. Refining segment throughput fell to 181 thousand barrels per day from 187 Mbpd in the year-earlier quarter, per the same release.

Par Pacific said its Hawaii turnaround was substantially complete, with the majority of processing units back online.

On the balance sheet, the company completed a USD 500 million Senior Unsecured Notes offering and cut term debt by more than USD 130 million, according to the release.

Sunrun priced the Class A Notes in its latest residential solar and storage securitization at a coupon of 6.28% and a credit spread of 200 basis points, tightening 20 basis points from the public Class A-1 Notes in the company's April 2026 deal, according to a GlobeNewswire Energy release.

The deal is Sunrun's seventeenth securitization since 2015 and its second issuance of 2026.

Collateral consists of 37,595 systems spread across 42 utility service territories in 13 states, with a weighted average customer FICO score of 756, per the release.

The opening balance of the Class A Notes equals a 74.2% advance rate on ADSAB, calculated as a present value using a 7.5% discount rate.

BofA Securities acted as sole structuring agent and joint bookrunner alongside Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets.

Sunrun expects the transaction to close by the end of August.

Spread compression on the senior tranche is the sharpest detail in the pricing. The 200 basis point level on the Class A Notes sits 20 basis points inside the comparable public tranche from the April 2026 transaction, the only prior issuance Sunrun has brought this year. The advance rate of 74.2% against ADSAB fixes how much senior debt the portfolio supports at the 7.5% discount rate applied.

The borrower base is granular rather than concentrated: 37,595 systems, 42 utility service territories, 13 states, and a weighted average FICO of 756. Four banks handled distribution, with BofA Securities alone responsible for structuring.

Base Power, a home battery startup based in Texas, has raised USD 1 billion and lifted its valuation to USD 13 billion from USD 4 billion, according to Canary Media.

The funding round and the valuation step-up were reported by Canary Media, which described the company as a home battery startup and located it in Texas.

Canary Media put the pre-raise valuation at USD 4 billion and the post-raise figure at USD 13 billion. The USD 1 billion raise is directed at putting large batteries into more homes, per the outlet's reporting on the round.

Heelstone Renewable Energy has bought Cypress Pointe Solar, a development-stage solar photovoltaic project in Texas, from Azimuth Renewables, according to a GlobeNewswire release. Heelstone is described in the release as a Qualitas Energy company.

The project carries a planned installed capacity of approximately 188 MWp, per the same release.

Cypress Pointe Solar sits in Sabine County and will interconnect within the Southwest Power Pool market rather than the Texas grid operator's footprint, according to the announcement. Heelstone said the Commercial Operation Date is targeted for 2029.

The purchase adds a project more than twice the size of Heelstone's most recent financing round. The company reached financial close in July 2026 on three solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 86 MWp, according to the release. The Texas acquisition alone represents 188 MWp of planned capacity, against that 86 MWp financed portfolio.

The transaction moves an early-stage asset from a developer to an owner-operator platform ahead of construction, with the seller named as Azimuth Renewables. Terms of the deal were not part of the announcement.