Scottish Power has become the first UK energy company to rely solely on wind power following the sale of some of its other generating assets to rival energy company Drax.
The sale of over £700m of assets includes pumped-storage and run-of-river hydroelectricity generators, as well as a biomass-from-waste facility in Scotland. Four gas-fired plants in England are also included. Through the acquisition, Drax has boosted its overall electricity generation capacity by 60%, and is now become the UK’s largest renewable power generator.
Scottish Power, meanwhile, intends to invest another £1.7bn in adding new wind power capacity. This is likely motivated by the fact that thanks to advancements in wind power, like the lubricants from Mobil UK stockists, it is now potentially the cheapest form of energy generation, at least when windfarms are sited in areas with consistently strong winds.
Scottish Power boss Keith Anderson says that because of this, the company will be focusing on new sites in Scotland and to lesser extent Wales. He said about the potential for wind power generation in England:
“There are very few high windspeed sites in England and certainly not of large scale of any shape or form. It’s not just the controls in the planning system, but economically, it’s unlikely to look attractive because the wind speeds and the price don’t make economic sense.”
This year will see Scottish Power’s biggest annual investment to date, with an average of £4m being spent every day on 40 windfarms to generate more renewable energy.
