ScottishPower has published its Annual Report for 2023 (opens in a new window), a year in which it unveiled a record £12bn investment plan to help deliver decarbonisation in the UK.
In November Iberdrola Chairman, Ignacio Galan, told the UK Global Investment Summit it expects to invest £12 billion in the UK between 2024 and 2028 as it supports the energy transition.
On 21 March 2024 it unveiled the first tranche of that investment in its 2024-26 strategic plan with £4.7bn to be spent in electricity networks and £3.9bn in renewables to 2026 with further investment plans for 2026-28 to follow.
ScottishPower is at the helm of transformative projects including the undersea Eastern Link off the east coast to connect more power and transport it across the UK and the East Anglia Hub which will see the new 1,400MW East Anglia Three (EA3) offshore wind farm constructed.
Last year saw ScottishPower Renewables formalise its biggest ever contract award of £1.3 billion for 95 Siemens Gamesa turbines to power East Anglia Three (EA3). The project will supply enough green energy for 1.3 million UK homes when it’s in operation and support over 2,300 jobs during construction.
SP Energy Networks continues to make progress in supporting the UK’s net zero goals. April 2023 saw the commencement of the RIIO-ED2 distribution price control which underpins huge investment across central and southern Scotland and Merseyside, Cheshire, North Shropshire and North Wales.
Earlier this year, SP Transmission also unveiled £5.4 billion worth of supply chain contract opportunities to support one of the largest grid updates since its inception. It followed the UK Government’s first Electricity Networks Commissioner's report and publication of the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) Transmission Acceleration Action Plan, which set out the ambition of halving the end-to-end build time of electricity transmission network infrastructure from 14 to 7 years. At the same time, DESNZ and the UK’s energy regulator Ofgem published a Connections Action Plan which set out expectations for the scale and pace of electricity grid connection reform.
In energy retailing, ScottishPower continued to support customers with the cost-of-living crisis alongside continuing its transformation from solely an energy supplier to an organisation that can help customers optimise their energy usage and bills. The last year saw continued growth of its Smart Solutions business, helping customers install solar panels, batteries, EVs and heat pumps across the UK.
With its plans to invest significantly in renewables generation and the electricity network infrastructure to support a low carbon future, ScottishPower is well-placed to contribute to supporting the UK’s decarbonisation ambitions.
