1st Dec 2021 09:10
(Alliance News) - SSE PLC on Wednesday said its Distribution subsidiary has finalised its investment plan for Ofgem's price control period from 2023 to 2028, in order to meet its sustainability goals.
Shares in the Perth, Scotland-based renewable energy firm were up 0.5% at 1,559.85 pence on Wednesday in London.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Distribution - or SSEN Distribution - will invest GBP4.0 billion over the new five-year price control period - called RIIO-ED2 - lower than its initial target of GBP4.1 billion announced in July on the grounds of increased efficiency.
The initial baseline investment amount reflected a 35% increase from the equivalent RIIO-ED1 period.
The price controls of UK energy market regulator Ofgem set the revenue monopoly electricity network owners can earn from charges on consumers' energy bills.
The plan is titled 'powering communities to net zero' and its targets include reducing the frequency and duration of power interruptions by 20%, and investing GBP1 billion into "strategic resilience" across SSEN Distribution's networks to move communities closer to net zero.
This includes the delivery of an additional 2 gigawatts of network capacity, connections for another 1.3 million electric vehicles, and 800,000 new heat pumps.
SSE said this investment could see the regulated asset value of SSEN Distribution to grow to over GBP6.0 billion by 2028.
The final business plan will now be assessed by Ofgem, with determinations published in 2022, ahead of the new price control period.
"As energy policy and targets accelerate at pace, it's critical we invest at the right level now to meet this ambition and avoid a higher cost future. We now need Ofgem to support this aim by providing an agile price control framework which gives the certainty and flexibility required to meet evolving policy and customer needs," said Chris Burchell, managing director of SSEN Distribution.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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