SSE plc

SSE plc

Type	Public limited company
Traded as	LSE: SSE
Industry	Energy
Founded	1998
Headquarters	Perth, Scotland, United Kingdom
Key people	Lord Smith of Kelvin (Chairman) Ian Marchant (CEO)
Products	Electricity generation, transmission and distribution; energy trading
Revenue	£28,334.2 million (2011)
Operating income	£1,454.8 million (2011)
Net income	£1,504.5 million (2011)
Employees	Around 20,000 (2011)
Website	www.sse.com

SSE plc (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy plc) (LSE: SSE) is a Scottish-registered British energy company headquartered in Perth. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It is one of the leading energy companies in the UK and the country’s second largest energy supplier, ranking 23rd in the FTSE 100 on 31 March 2009. It is involved in the generation and supply of electricity, the supply of gas, the operation of gas and telecoms networks and other energy-related services such as gas storage, contracting, connections and metering.

SSE is the UK's largest generator from renewable sources.

History

Pre-privatisation

The Scottish part of the company has its origins in the former North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, which was privatised in the 1980s as Scottish Hydro-Electric.

Southern Electric was formed from the former Southern Electricity Board.

Post-privatisation

The company was formed in 1998 following a merger between Scottish Hydro-Electric and Southern Electric.

In 2000, the company acquired the SWALEC energy supply business. In 2004 the Company acquired the Ferrybridge and Fiddlers Ferry Power Stations for £250million. In 2008 it went on to buy Airtricity Holdings, an Irish wind farm business. In 2009 it agreed to purchase Uskmouth power station from Welsh Power Group Limited. In April 2010 the company purchased the natural gas exploration and production assets of Hess Corporation in three areas of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf - Everest/Lomond, Easington and Bacton.

In January 2010, Scottish and Southern Energy intend to change the core company branding from Scottish and Southern Energy to SSE. Alongside the re-naming of SSE, they are also introducing other related changes across many parts of the business, which are as follows:

• Supply: The supply business changes are being managed by the Supply Business Implementation Group. Most of this will be done centrally, so in general, the supply business won’t need to do anything.
• Generation: The generation business currently comes under the Scottish and Southern Energy brand; in line with the SSE name change, this part of the company will be rebranded as SSE.
• Power Networks: There are no plans to change the name or logo of the power networks businesses, so no changes are needed here. However, there will be some ongoing work to ensure that all signage, vehicle livery and other branding is consistent and up to date.
• SSE Renewables: The SSE Renewables name, which replaces Airtricity for the generation side of the business, SSE launched in late 2009 and its implementation will be complete by the beginning of 2010.
• Contracting: Southern Electric Contracting (SEC) Will become SSE Contracting.

Operations

The company is the second largest supplier of electricity and natural gas in the United Kingdom, and the UK's largest generator of renewable energy. It incorporates the brands SWALEC, Southern Electric, Scottish Hydro Electric and Atlantic Electric and Gas. It also owns Southern Electric Power Distribution, Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution, Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission and 50% of Scotia Gas Networks. Its subsidiaries are organised into the main businesses of generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity; storage and supply of gas; electrical and utility contracting, and domestic appliance retailing and telecoms. They also own Airtricity.

SSE also has an equity interest of 50% in, and provides corporate and management services to Scotia Gas Networks, which owns Southern Gas Networks and Scotland Gas Networks. Its contracting business has five main areas of activity: industrial, commercial and domestic, mechanical and electrical contracting; data communications; high-voltage design and maintenance; electrical and instrumentation engineering, and public and highway lighting.

All SSE's call centres covering the Southern Electric, Scottish Hydro Electric, Swalec and Atlantic Electric and Gas are based in the UK.

Fuel mix

Renewable energy

In the period between April 2010 and March 2011 10% of the electricity SSE supplied was from renewables compared with the UK average of 7.9%. In April 2011, SSE had 2,450MW of renewable (hydro, wind and dedicated biomass) capacity; 21.7% of 11,290MW total. In February 2012, the company applied to build Scotland's biggest hydro electric scheme at the west end of the Great Glen. The scheme is set to cost approximately £800m.

Nuclear power

In the period between April 2010 and March 2011 1% of the electricity SSE supplied was from nuclear power, compared with the UK average of 17.3%.

In October 2009, NuGeneration (NuGen) a consortium of GDF Suez, Iberdrola and SSE was successful in securing an option to purchase land for the development of a new 3.6GW nuclear power station at Sellafield on the Cumbrian Coast from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. However, on 23 September 2011, SSE announced it was withdrawing from the consortium and selling its 25% stake to the other two partners.

See also

• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Energy policy of Scotland
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Green electricity in the United Kingdom
• Meter Point Administration Number
• Scotland-Norway interconnector

External links

• SSE (official site)
• SSE Official Twitter Channel
• Southern Electric (Southern Electric)
• Ecologist article on "green" energy
• Glendoe hydro electric scheme
• The Corestore website has details, drawings, and photos of many of the SSE power stations