Scottish and Southern Energy and UK-based port operator, Forth Ports, have entered into a strategic venture to develop renewable energy projects around the latter's sites in Scotland and England.
The new venture, to be called Forth Energy, will invest in the generation, distribution and supply of renewable energy for export to the electricity network for commercial sale, and for consumption at Forth Ports sites.
It will support the sustainable regeneration of Forth Ports's property development asset base. In some ports, there will be additional benefits arising from the transit of sustainable materials for power generation. Forth Energy reportedly has the potential to be Scotland's biggest developer of on-site dedicated renewable power generation facilities.
The venture contemplates projects across a number of renewable energy technologies, including onshore and offshore wind and biomass, and related networks and infrastructure.
Possible projects with a total installed capacity in excess of 150MW have been identified. The first of these, the construction of four 2MW onshore wind turbines at the port of Tilbury, is expected to commence following the recent grant of planning consent. This project will require total investment of around GBP12 million, to be provided by a mixture of project debt and equity.
Ian Marchant, CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), said: "Securing future supplies and tackling climate change are driving major changes in the production and consumption of energy. Our venture with Forth Ports will provide us with a series of new opportunities to pursue sustainable energy developments, with a variety of technologies."
