Perth energy firm SSE ‘on course’ to deliver targets

Perth-based energy giant SSE said it expected to meet its fullyear targets yesterday despite its renewable energy output falling 5% behind forecasts for the first nine months of the year.

In a trading update yesterday SSE said it continued to expect its adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of 83p to 88p for the 2019-20 financial year although this is subject to there being “normal” weather conditions.

Last month SSE completed the sale of its domestic energy business to Ovo for £500 million.

The utility firm plans to close its last coal-fired power station at Fiddlers Ferry in Cheshire by the end of March.

Gregor Alexander, finance director of SSE, said: “Strategic execution, good operational performance and optionality in SSE’S portfolio remain critical for driving societal and shareholder value.

“Since reporting our interim results we have continued to deliver on our priorities, focusing the SSE group on businesses that are well placed to play a leading role in delivery of a low-carbon strategy that supports the transition to net-zero emissions.

“The first financial objective of that strategy is to remunerate shareholders’ investment through dividends based on the quality and nature of assets and operations, earnings derived from them and the long-term financial outlook.

“The first nine months of the financial year have been generally positive for SSE, and we are on course to deliver our FY2019-20 financial forecasts.”

SSE Renewables announced yesterday that its newest onshore wind farm will be built subsidy free after confirming an 11-turbine extension to the existing 70MW, 35-turbine Gordonbush onshore wind farm. The installed capacity of the extension will be 47MW.

Located 12km north-west of Brora in the Scottish Highlands, construction on the extension will commence in March using some of the infrastructure and the grid connection of the original Gordonbush wind farm.

Jim Smith, managing director of SSE Renewables, said: “Onshore wind is the cheapest form of low carbon generation and brings job and investment to rural communities.”