Heatwave’s £1bn blow to wind farms

MORE than £1 billion was wiped off the value of one of Britain’s largest energy suppliers after it admitted its wind turbines ground to a halt during the summer heatwave.

SSE, which supplies electricity to 3.8 million households, said profits would be far lower than expected after the warm, still weather dented output from its wind farms. It warned investors that profits for the half-year would be 50 per cent lower than the £586 million reported last year.

Higher wholesale gas prices and customers not switching on the heating also contributed to the slide.

Shares in SSE fell 8.2 per cent, cutting the company’s stock market value by £1.05 billion to £11.6 billion.

Chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said: ‘Lower-than- expected output of renewable energy and higher- thanexpected gas prices mean that SSE’s financial performance in the first five months has been disappointing and regrettable.’

He also warned that the price cap on energy bills due to be introduced by regulator Ofgem would dent full-year profits.

About 17 per cent of the electricity SSE generated last year came from wind, with the rest from coal, gas, oil and biomass.

The company has two wind farms off the coast of the UK and several on- shore farms in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.