17th Jul 2006 13:30
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC17 July 2006 VISIT BY COMMISSIONER ANDRIS PIEBALGS European Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs is spending today at the Perthheadquarters of Scottish and Southern Energy plc ("SSE") as part of a two-dayvisit to Scotland. In the course of his visit, the Commissioner is meeting senior members of SSE'smanagement team and other representatives of the energy sector in Scotland,touring its Energy Management Centre and visiting its Sustainable EnergyDemonstration House. Tomorrow, the Commissioner will visit the Moray Firth where SSE and its partner,Talisman Energy (UK) Ltd, expect to install in the next few weeks two 5MW(megawatt) wind turbines 25km off the coast in 45 metres of water, making it theworld's deepest offshore wind farm. Electricity generated by the two turbines will be used to power the Beatrice oilplatform which, in turn, will provide a base from which to carry out turbinemonitoring and maintenance of the performance of the two turbines. The installation of the turbines will be a key milestone in a £35m demonstratorproject which has been funded by the European Union, Scottish Executive andDepartment of Trade and Industry, as well as Talisman Energy (UK) and SSE. Commissioner Piebalgs said: "In today's world, we need to fight climate change and ensure that we havesecure supplies of energy. We should, therefore, be ambitious in the field ofrenewable energy and I am looking forward to learning more about the projectshere in Scotland." Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said: "Commissioner Piebalgs' visit is timely and an invaluable opportunity to discussboth the Commission's Energy Green Paper and the UK energy policy review. Weshare the Commission's commitment to an energy strategy which balancessustainable development, competitiveness and security of supply. "The Beatrice project is a leading-edge opportunity to examine the technical andcommercial viability of deep water wind farms. This demonstration phase willgive us the information we need to determine whether deep water wind farms arelikely to provide a new means of delivering significant amounts of zero carbonenergy." Enquiries to:Scottish and Southern EnergyAlan Young, Director of Corporate Communications 0870 900 0410Denis Kerby, Corporate Communications 0870 900 0410 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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