SSE ‘unlikely’ to meet 2030 generation target for renewables as firm cuts investments by £3bn
Energy firm SSE has said it is “unlikely” to reach its 2030 renewable energy generation target as the company announced that it was cutting its five-year investment expectations by £3bn.
SSE, which is engaged with multiple projects in Yorkshire, said that macroeconomic challenges had led it to reduce its near-term capital investment expectations down to £17.5bn.
A statement from the company said: “The group's investment plans have not been immune to the changing macroeconomic environment and wider delays to the planning processes which have been seen over the last twelve months.
“Reflecting this investment landscape, the group today announces a reduction in the overall size of the capital investment plan to around £17.5bn over the five years to 31 March 2027.”
SSE added that around 90 per cent of its investment plan is currently committed, but said the remainder is subject to delay or even cancellation, should the right investment conditions fail to emerge.
The company said that as a result of this decision, it was “unlikely” to meet its goal of 50 tera-watt hours of renewable energy generation by 2030.
This came despite what the company described as “significant” growth in installed capacity and output over the last few years.
SSE’s announcement comes as a number of major firms continue to step away from their green energy investments.
Both Shell and BP earlier this year announced that they were cutting back on investment into green energy.
Earlier this month, Danish firm Orsted also announced that it was cancelling its plans for a huge windfarm previously set to be located off the Yorkshire coast.
Alongside its latest announcement, however, SSE said it had made progress on a number of green energy projects.
In August, the firm completed full energisation of its Shetland-based High-Voltage Direct Current cable and completed its associated 443 megga-watt Viking wind farm.
The company also commenced construction on Eastern Green Link 2, a two gigga-watt subsea High-Voltage Direct Current cable being jointly delivered with National Grid. The project is the UK's single largest electricity transmission project.
Posting its preliminary results for the year ending March 31, SSE reported adjusted pre-tax profits of £2.13bn, down three per cent on the year prior.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of SSE, said: "SSE continues to prove the benefits of a portfolio that is built to withstand risk and uncertainty and a strategy that is focused on creating sustainable value. We have met our financial goals for the year and evolved our investment plans to reflect the changing world around us - leaning into the opportunities presented in networks and redoubling our capital discipline across our energy businesses."