UK utility SSE will reduce its planned investment in new renewables projects due to the changing macroeconomic environment and wider delays to planning processes.
The company noted that it would be unlikely to meet its own renewable energy generation goal of 50 terawatt hours by 2030 after reducing its five-year investment expectations by £3bn to £17.5bn.
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The investment cuts will include investing £1.5bn less on the development of renewable energy initiatives, a £1bn reduction on thermal and other projects and a further £0.5bn cut from its transmission projects.
90% of this investment plan is currently committed, but the remainder is subject to delay or potentially even cancellation if the right investment conditions are not met.
Projects that face delays include Berwick Bank on Scotland’s east coast, the Coire Glas pumped hydro storage project, also in Scotland, and the Arklow Bank wind farm in Ireland.
SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies stated: “Our plans have evolved over time, using the optionality we have across a business mix that allows us to react to external factors and pivot to where we see value. As transmission investment opportunities emerged, we steadily upweighted our capital allocation in that area.
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By GlobalData“Now, in response to the impact on growth rates from factors like a changing macro environment and delays to policy and planning, we are reducing spending on our energy businesses and evolving our internal structures to sharpen our focus on controllable costs and efficiencies.”
SSE’s decision follows Danish energy provider Ørsted’s discontinuation of the 2.4GW Hornsea offshore wind farm, citing cost pressures.
In early May 2025, energy company Drax announced that it would hold a major expansion of its Scottish hydro-power plant over increased project costs.
In the same month, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) announced a £200m ($258m) investment to upgrade the electricity distribution network in Oxfordshire, UK.
