Shell Honored At The Opal Awards For Best Practice In Small Business Development
Mar 18, 2018
Shell Development Oman won the 2018 OPAL Award for Best Practice in the Small Business Development category for “Solar into Schools” project. The prize-winning project centered on fostering Omani Solar Small-medium Enterprises (SMEs), to build a platform for renewable energy that can contribute to Oman’s energy future. Hosted by the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL), the highly anticipated annual event recognizes innovation, excellence and best practice standards focusing around areas of critical importance to the industry.

Accepting the awards on behalf of Shell Development Oman, Country Director Chris Breeze said, “I am very grateful we have received this award, which recognizes our “Solar into Schools” initiative as a way to contribute towards Oman’s energy industry and economy through growth and development of Solar SMEs. As Shell’s 5th Gift to the Nation, we are proud to deliver this first-of-its-kind project that reflects our dedication to put clean energy into classrooms and have a long-term impact on the environment and financial market of the country. To date, this project has supported in enhancing the lives of over 1,000 people; this is a good indicator that Shell Development Oman has the right tools to manage this large-scale project and is on track to achieving its goal to have 22 operational solar schools in the Sultanate in the next five years”.
He added, “Shell, together with governments and society, has a global role to play in facilitating the energy transition away from high carbon intensity. The company is engaged in the effort to help reduce emissions and this is why we are involved in building a nationwide network of solar-into-schools throughout Oman, in a way that brings benefits to society.”
Launched in 2016, the Solar into Schools project aims to encourage the development of the Small-Medium Enterprise sector in Oman, and to create an environmentally and economically sustainable solar market that will lead to future innovations and entrepreneurial opportunities within the field of energy transition. Shell Development Oman, first plan of action was to educate and equip the Omani SMEs in the field of renewable energy through offering support, guidance and training to the companies. By developing HSE procedures to comply with internationally recognized standards, Shell’s training qualifications fulfils the solar installers prerequisite which is officially endorsed by the Distribution Code Review Panel (DCRP) and has achieved goal zero in Health and Safety competence; the training and information gained it will enable the SMEs to apply this forward in future projects.
At the OPAL Awards, companies competing for top honors were required to present initiatives demonstrating best practice in four key categories: Human Capital Development, Technical and Operational Excellence, Small Business Development and Health, Safety and Environment. Each of the participants made a short presentation detailing their innovative projects while a panel of judges assessed each of the entries against a set of evaluation criteria.
For media enquiries contact:
Mr. Nureddin Wefati
Head of Media Relations for Middle East & North Africa
Shell EP International
Tel: +971 4 705 5347
Cell: +971 56 216 2409
Nureddin.Wefati@Shell.com
Mr. Hassan Almarashi
Spokesperson Middle East & North Africa
Shell EP International Ltd
Tel: +971 4 705 5783
Cell: +971 56 226 0924
Hassan.Almarashi@Shell.com
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