ScottishPower is to spend up to £2 billion in the UK in 2019 — its biggest-ever investment in the country in a single year.
The announcement at the end of last month came as the company updated its investment plans, following the sale
of its thermal generation business and transition to 100% renewable energy in 2018.
ScottishPower CEO Keith Anderson (
www.scottishpower.com) said: “Our first investment plan since leaving coal and gas behind is a historic milestone and a vote of confidence in the UK’s commitment to decarbonising the economy.
“In a time of uncertainty, the UK needs to deliver its Industrial and Energy strategy, and that is what we are providing with our biggest ever investment in a single year.
“Consumers want and need access to reliable, clean and affordable energy. That is what ScottishPower is focused on delivering; and as long as Government climate-change commitments stay firm, with sensible policies to support them, this investment will continue.
"Now that we have sold our gas power stations, our growth plans are about cleaner and smarter power that will help the UK to decarbonise faster, and we have set out the part we will play in the transition to electrify the economy where it matters most now — in transport and in heating.”
Between 2018 and 2022 ScottishPower will spend £6 billion in the UK, with 40% of that spent on new renewable-energy generation, 42% on smarter enhanced networks and 15% on innovative services and products.
The company will invest in smarter services for customers, including products to unlock the market for electric-vehicle ownership.
As part of its strategy for growth, it announced plans for a new public electric charging service, which will install fast chargers across the UK at strategic commercial locations from winter 2019.
ScottishPower also announced plans for a 50MW battery storage project at Whitelee, the UK’s largest onshore wind farm; this will be the first of a series of storage schemes, mainly located at wind farms and at strategic points
on the network.
The company believes that the combination of renewable energy and flexible storage is the most cost-effective low-carbon solution for consumers.
In renewables, ScottishPower set out plans to develop a 1GW pipeline of onshore wind projects by 2025.
Onshore wind remains the lowest-cost technology for new electricity generation in the UK, and ScottishPower sees substantial opportunities for the continued development of onshore wind projects around Scotland and other areas of the UK.