ENERGY giant SSE has pledged to pour £7 billion into helping the UK economy come back greener from the coronavirus crisis – with two Scottish site earmarked for investment.
The electricity generator said it would start to cut emissions “further and faster” as it builds new wind farms.
Over the next five years, it aims to invest nearly £4 million a day on green projects, including a £580m onshore wind farm in the Shetland Islands, and a £3bn offshore site which promises to be the largest in Scotland. They will create around 800 new jobs and “thousands more in the supply chain”, SSE said.
“It’s easy to talk about a green recovery, but we’re putting our money where our mouth is with £7bn of low-carbon infrastructure projects that can deliver a win-win for climate and economy,” said chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies.
READ MORE: Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions cut in half in 30 years
“The investment plans we’ve set out today underline our intentions as a British business providing a boost to the economy and we want to work with Government to make the green recovery and delivery of net zero a reality.
“The world is facing twin crises with the economic impact of coronavirus and the climate emergency and the only route forward is to unlock investment.”
He said the company would reduce the carbon intensity of the energy it produces by 60% by 2030, compared with a previous target of 50%.
“Plenty of businesses talk a good game on climate action, but we’re serious. That’s why we will hold ourselves to account with new science-based emissions reduction targets, independently verified and underpinned by evidence,” Phillips-Davies said.
The news came as SSE presented its first set of annual results since selling off its energy supply arm to Ovo late last year.
SSE said that when adjusting for that disposal and other one-off changes, profit before tax increased by 49% to just over £1bn. Without the adjustments, it fell 55% to £588m. It said it would also take a hit of between £150m and £250m from the coronavirus crisis.
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