Shell's UK power retailer to grow by 25% after rival's default

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell's British power retail business will grow by over a quarter after it took on 255,000 customers from a rival supplier that defaulted following the recent surge in natural gas prices.

Shell Energy will take on the customers from Green Supplier Limited, the British regulator OFGEM and Shell Energy said in separate statements.

A number of British suppliers https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/gas-price-spike-push-more-uk-suppliers-out-business-officials-say-2021-09-22 have gone out of business in recent weeks after a sharp rise in natural gas and electricity prices as economies reopened from COVID-19 lockdowns.

Shell Energy, which currently has around 900,000 customers across Britain, said Green's customers will move to Shell Energy with their credit balances protected and supply uninterrupted.

The company is "well-capitalised supplier with long term ambitions to help British households get to net-zero emissions," Shell Energy Retail CEO Ed Kamm said in a statement.

Shell aims to grow it power customer base across the world as part of its strategy to shift away from oil and gas and slash greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso, editing by Louise Heavens)