Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has pulled out of a project to build a new nuclear power plant in the UK.
The utility has announced that it is to sell its 25 per cent stake in NuGeneration (NuGen) to GDF Suez and Iberdrola and that it will focus on renewable energy, gas-fired generation and alternative energy developments.
Iberdrola and GDF Suez say that SSE’s decision is unlikely to have an impact on the plans developed by NuGen to build a nuclear power plant in northwest England of up to 3.6 GW in capacity. A statement from the two firms said: “As scheduled, the final investment decision should take place around 2015 with commercial operation of a new nuclear power station expected by 2023.”
Both companies will raise their stakes in NuGen to 50 per cent.
SSE, which has no experience in the construction or operation of nuclear power plants said that its resources would be “better deployed on business activities and technologies where it has the greatest knowledge and experience”.
“The UK will need both nuclear and renewable energy in the future, but we have made it clear from the start of our involvement in NuGen that for SSE our core investment in generation should be in renewable energy,” said Alistair Phillips-Davies, Generation and Supply Director of SSE. “At the same time, it made sense to be part of NuGen to help establish whether some participation in new nuclear power stations would be the right thing for SSE, given we have no experience of ownership or operations in the nuclear sector.”
Phillips-Davies said that SEE could again become involved in NuGen again at a later date “either as an investor or as a purchaser of electricity”.
Iberdrola and GDF Suez recently submitted a planning application for site characterization work at the Cumbria site and said that they have made “significant progress” over the last year with respect to the nuclear project.