Following the release of SSE’s full-year results, chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies provides a strategic overview, highlighting a strong year of delivery. SSE is dedicated to accelerating the construction of renewable assets, providing critical flexible generation backup, and transforming electricity networks. These efforts align with SSE’s long-held purpose of building a better world of energy. The company’s focus on renewables, flexibility, and networks forms the foundation of the future energy system. With a diverse business mix and world-class assets, SSE is well-positioned to deliver on its mission.
SSE’s investment plans are flexible, allowing the company to pivot to the best opportunities in the clean electricity value chain. This strategic approach is evident in the adjustments made in the past year, with 90 percent of the £20.5 billion Net Zero Acceleration Programme Plus investment program geared towards networks and renewables. As the UK and Ireland’s clean energy champion, SSE benefits from significant tailwinds and broad political and societal consensus on the need to combat climate change. Supportive market design will be crucial for SSE to continue playing its part, and the company welcomed the bulk of the UK Government’s Review of Electricity Market Arrangements.
The year 2023/24 marked a period of accelerated delivery for SSE’s strategic plan, making significant progress toward a cleaner, secure, and more affordable future energy system. The company achieved record investment, with £2.5 billion spent on critical national infrastructure, pushing ahead with its fully-funded capital expenditure programme to 2026/27. Despite the challenges, SSE met its financial objectives, reaching the higher end of its full-year adjusted Earnings Per Share guidance.
A notable achievement was the significant reduction in SSE’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, recording the lowest values on record for total GHG emissions, scope 1 GHG emissions, and carbon intensity. This reduction was primarily due to a decrease in thermal generation output, and SSE will continue to track progress against its interim science-based targets.
The dedication and commitment of SSE’s highly skilled employees and contract partners are crucial to the company’s success. However, the loss of Richard Ellis, an employee of a contract partner who died in an offsite incident in October 2023, was deeply saddening. SSE remains committed to ensuring the safety of all its workers, emphasising the importance of safety in a growing workforce.
SSE made significant strategic progress in the past year, achieving key milestones on major infrastructure projects within its two growth engines: networks and renewables. The construction of SSE Renewables’ flagship projects, including Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, Seagreen, and the Viking project on Shetland, progressed well. Despite some delays with the Dogger Bank A project due to poor weather and supply chain issues, the company remains on track to complete it in the first half of 2025.
SSEN Transmission continued to deliver critical grid infrastructure, making good progress on enabling work for the Eastern Green Link 2 and other major projects. The pioneering HVDC Shetland link saw all 260 km of subsea cable laid in 2023, with full energisation expected in summer 2024.
SSE operates in a dynamic energy landscape, navigating it with a blend of diverse technologies and revenue streams. The company’s business mix, spanning market-facing and economically-regulated businesses, offers stable economic returns and multiple investment options. SSE’s agility allows it to pivot capital to areas with the greatest impact on net zero and create the most value.
While SSE Renewables and SSEN Transmission are the current growth drivers, other businesses within the Group contribute to the delivery of the climate-focused strategy. SSE Thermal provides system flexibility for energy security, SSEN Distribution is investing to electrify streets and homes, SSE Energy Markets manages risk and navigates market volatility, and customer businesses ensure a valuable route to market with new products and systems.
Looking beyond the NZAP Plus, SSE anticipates continued growth. With steady regulatory earnings and well-established infrastructure, electricity networks are increasingly recognized as a crucial part of the energy system. SSEN Transmission is set to deliver £20 billion of network upgrades in the north of Scotland, with an additional £5 billion earmarked for early delivery under Ofgem’s Beyond 2030 plan.
SSE’s development pipeline of energy assets needed for net zero includes renewables projects like Berwick Bank, Seagreen 1A, Coire Glas, and Arklow. Future auction possibilities and other opportunities in home markets and abroad, along with flexibility options across various technologies, promise continued growth.
SSE’s primary focus remains on delivering the five-year plan, bringing lasting value to shareholders and society. With much of the anticipated growth factored into the later years of the plan and a significant portion of forecast earnings being regulated and inflation-linked, SSE is confident in its guidance to 2026/27. The company’s fully-funded investment plan, strict capital discipline, quality assets and people, resilient business mix, and strong balance sheet with the majority of debt held at fixed rates all contribute to this confidence.
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