Networks and flexible assets key in SSE’s £40bn investment plan
Scotland-based electricity infrastructure company SSE has unveiled what they are calling a record-breaking investment plan: £40 billion ($49.7 billion) into low carbon energy infrastructure, including vital network infrastructure and the flexible power sources to back up the grid during intermittent gaps.
The investment programme will see the company ramp up deployment of renewable energy, the vital network infrastructure to connect and transport it around the UK, and the flexible power sources to back it up when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.
The projected investment, states the British company, will be rolled out over next decade in the UK and was announced alongside strong full-year results, which the company states “underlie the benefit of its balanced, integrated business model”, in a press release issued today.
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The plan comes as SSE publishes its financial results for full-year 2022/23, reporting a record investment of £2.8 billion ($3.5 billion) for the year – over 50% more than its £1.8 billion ($2.2 billion) adjusted profit after tax in the same period.
The results reveal adjusted earnings per share increasing 75% year-on-year, supported by a strong performance from the Group’s flexible generation and gas storage assets.
The Group – whose origins stretch back 80 years – is investing in electricity networks, onshore and offshore wind and solar, as well as developing new power generation and storage technologies including carbon capture, hydrogen, batteries and pumped hydro to back up an increasingly renewables-led energy system.
In announcing the strong financial results and promising investment plans, Alistair Phillips Davies, the company’s chief executive, commented on how the financial results represent “profit with a purpose…They are also testament to the strength of our balanced business mix and net zero-aligned strategy, which sees us investing in the solutions to the energy crisis.
“This is a massive commitment to the UK and, at around £10 million ($12.4 million) every single day, amounts to one of the largest clean energy investment programmes this country has ever seen – helping create and support thousands of new jobs and powering green growth from Shetland to the Isle of Wight.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, added: “Investment in Britain’s electricity infrastructure system is key to securing our energy supply as we transition to cheap, clean, home-grown renewables. Today’s commitment from SSE is a further vote of confidence in the British economy.
“We have the second-largest offshore wind capacity in the world, with renewables providing 40% of our electricity and investment like this ensures long-term energy security, lower bills and thousands of jobs in our industrial heartlands.”
