SSE Awarded New Offshore Wind Lease in Scotland, Boosting Renewables

By Joe Hoppe

SSE PLC said Monday that it has been successful in the ScotWind auction for new offshore wind leases off the east coast of Scotland, bolstering its renewables pipeline.

The energy company said that it and its ScotWind partners, Marubeni Corp. and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S, have been awarded by Crown Estate Scotland the rights for 858 square kilometers of seabead, to develop an offshore wind project with up to 2.6 gigawatts of capacity.

SSE owns a 40% share of the development rights, with Marubeni and CIP each owning 30%.

Given the water depths of the site, floating wind technology will be used, making the development one of the largest commercial-scale floating-wind-farm opportunities in the world.

"Projects like these can help reduce the U.K.'s exposure to volatile wholesale markets, keeping prices down for consumers and creating skilled jobs in the process," SSE Chief Executive Alistair Phillips Davies said.

The project brings SSE's secured pipeline to around 11 gigawatts, with further opportunities in development to grow this to its 15 gigawatt target.

The company added that it and its partners have already invested significant funds into pre-award development of the project.

Shares at 1025 GMT were up 14.5 pence, or 0.9% at 1,591 pence.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 17, 2022 05:47 ET (10:47 GMT)

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