By Elvira Pollina, Andres Gonzalez and Mathieu Rosemain

MILAN/LONDON/PARIS, March 18 (Reuters) - Macquarie Group MQG.AX has expressed early interest in bidding for Shell's SHEL.L European onshore renewable energy business, according to people familiar with the matter, assets that could be valued at more than 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion), another person said.

Shell is preparing to launch an auction for the assets in coming weeks, two of the sources said, as CEO Wael Sawan continues to scale back the company's low-carbon operations in favour of liquefied natural gas and upstream businesses.

Macquarie and Shell declined to comment.

Here are the key details:

• Shell's European onshore renewables could fetch 1billion -1.5 billion euros ($1.15-1.73 billion), one of the sources said

• At end-2025, Shell had about 1.1 gigawatts of renewable power capacity in operation in Europe and around 600 megawatts in development

• Onshore assets are expected to be sold first, the same source said, potentially paving the way for a subsequent disposal of Shell's European offshore renewables unit

• Macquarie has not made a final decision to bid; other potential bidders are expected to review the portfolio once the process launches

• Shell has renewable projects in the Netherlands, Italy, the UK and Spain

• The divestment follows Shell's February announcement of a strategic review of its India-based renewable unit, Sprng Energy($1 = 0.8668 euros)

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, Andres Gonzales, Mathieu RosemainAdditional reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

((Mathieu.Rosemain@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 8098 1239; Reuters Messaging: mathieu.rosemain.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net; Twitter: https://twitter.com/MathieuRosemain))