15th Feb 2008 14:53
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC15 February 2008 SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY PLC COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION OF AIRTRICITY HOLDINGS LTD Scottish and Southern Energy plc ("SSE") has today completed the acquisition ofAirtricity Holdings Ltd ("Airtricity"), following the agreement announced on 4January 2008. The enterprise value of the business being acquired is €1,455m. Airtricity is a well established Dublin-based renewable energy companydeveloping and operating wind farms in the UK and Ireland, developing wind farmsin continental Europe and China and supplying electricity to mainly commercialcustomers in Ireland. Airtricity will continue to operate as a renewable energy business and will beled by Paul Dowling, formerly Chief Operating Officer of Airtricity and now itsChief Executive. The combination of Airtricity's assets with its existing assets means SSE nowhas (net of joint venture interests): • a total of almost 10,500MW of electricity generation capacity; • over 1,900MW of renewable energy capacity, including hydro, pumped storage, wind and biomass; • almost 480MW of operating onshore wind energy capacity, making it the largest wind farm operator across the UK and Ireland; • a portfolio of onshore wind farms and hydro schemes with full consent and/or under construction of almost 540MW (including Fairburn); • a total of 545MW of offshore wind farm developments with consent; and • an established electricity supply business operating in the all-island market. SSE has also acquired Airtricity's extensive portfolio of other onshore andoffshore wind energy projects in the UK (which will supplement its existingdevelopment opportunities), Ireland, Europe and China. The UK developmentsinclude the 483MW onshore wind farm proposed for Clyde, between Biggar andMoffat in southern Scotland, which is at an advanced stage in the consentprocess. As a result, SSE expects to have over 3,500MW of operating renewable energycapacity, including hydro, pumped storage and biomass, in 2013, and will have amajor new range of investment opportunties from which to secure growth over thenext decade. Against this background, SSE will review its current target ofreducing the amount of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of electricity, producedat power stations in which it has an ownership or contractual interest, by 20%over the ten years to 2016. SSE's dividend target of at least 4% annual real growth in 2008, 2009 and 2010is unchanged. The acquisition, and the investment opportunities it yields, areexpected to help SSE maintain its track record of dividend growth well into thesecond decade of this century. Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said: "I am delighted that this acquisition has been completed so quickly. Over thepast few weeks, the Airtricity and SSE teams have worked very well together, andwe've already laid foundations for future success. I am looking forward toworking with Paul Dowling on the task of combining SSE's and Airtricity'srenewable energy forces and creating an excellent platform for long-term growththat is sustainable in every sense." NOTE: SSE will provide an update on its plans and activities in sustainableenergy on 26 March. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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