Engineering news
A leading energy supplier today walked away from a scheme to build a new nuclear plant in favour of pursuing renewable energy projects.
Scottish & Southern Energy, which owns Southern Electric, has decided to sell its 25% stake in NuGeneration, a consortium mulling a new plant at Sellafield in Cumbria, as it believes its resources would be better focused on areas where it has greater knowledge and experience.
Its decision will be a blow to the government, which is looking to nuclear power as a way to meet the UK's energy needs into the future, as SSE is currently the UK's second largest electricity generator.
The Perth-based firm will sell its stake in NuGeneration to partners GDF Suez and Spain's Iberdrola.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE's generation and supply director, added that the group had always taken a cautious approach to the cost and other issues surrounding nuclear power.
He said: "NuGen will have to make a multibillion-pound investment decision around 2015, but even getting to the point of that decision will absorb, from now on, significant financial and management resources from everyone in the joint venture."
The group's investment plans are now focused on renewable energy, gas-fired generation, and alternative energy concepts, he said.
SSE employs 20,000 people and supplies electricity, gas and other services to more than 10 million customers.
NuGeneration, one of three consortiums looking at new nuclear reactors in the UK, has an option to build a new plant of up to 3.6 gigawatt generating capacity in Cumbria.
If the remaining two consortium members decide to go ahead, a new plant may be up and running by 2023.
Prior to today's announcement, SSE chief executive Ian Marchant had indicated that its involvement in the project might be under review.
He said its lack of experience would mean it would be a junior partner running a nuclear plant, while it could be the leader of a consortium focused on renewable energy.