Scottish and Southern buys Uskmouth for £27m

13th Aug 2009 16:23

Scottish and Southern Energy is paying £27m in cash for the firm which owns and operates the 363MW (megawatt) Uskmouth coal-fired power station.The acquisition of Uskmouth Power Company from Welsh Power Group Limited will take SSE's total electricity generation portfolio past 11,000MW for the first time.Uskmouth, built in the 1960s and refurbished nine years ago, is made up of three independent power generating units, each with 121MW of capacity."It is generally accepted that the UK's current portfolio of coal-fired power stations still have a crucial role to play in keeping the country's lights on and Uskmouth has the flexibility to help meet demand for power over the next few years," said SSE chief executive Ian Marchant."We are still focusing on our target of reducing the carbon intensity of our power generation by 50% between 2006 and 2020, and Uskmouth will have a role to play in this, since it also provides an opportunity to develop a new lower carbon generation asset on the site," he added."We intend to examine a range of options, but each one will ensure Uskmouth remains an important part of our electricity generation portfolio in the coming years."SSE supplies electricity and gas to more than a million customers in Wales through its SWALEC brand.