£1.4bn spending plan unveiled by SP Energy Networks for RIIO2

After 12-months of extensive consultation, the company has submitted its draft business plan for the second set of RIIO price controls. According to the network, it outlines the role that its transmission system in central and southern Scotland will play in achieving the Government’s net zero carbon targets and supporting its future networks vision.

The network operator will spend £607 million maintaining and upgrading its existing assets and £593 million increasing the capacity of the network.

The draft transmission business plan sets out investments which will:

• Enable an additional 3GW of low carbon generation with CO2 savings of 3.6Mt per annum and an economic value of around £100m;
• Ensure that the reliability of the transmission network remains at near 100%;
• Introduce new technologies to improve the efficiency, performance and environmental impact of the transmission network.

Frank Mitchell, CEO of SP Energy Networks, said: “The UK has set world leading decarbonisation targets and will be carbon net zero by 2050, with Scotland looking to set a legally binding target of 2045 to ensure it stops contributing to climate change within a generation.

“SP Energy Networks’ investment has already been fundamental in establishing Scotland as a globally recognised renewable energy powerhouse, with 30% of the UK’s renewables connected via our transmission network.

“The next decade will be crucial in preparing the grid for net zero and this new plan lays out smart and innovative investment that will be instrumental in supporting the UK’s decarbonisation ambition.

“We are also focused on keeping costs down for customers. We were recognised as the most efficient transmission business for our last set of investments. This plan goes even further and is 9% more efficient again. That has allowed us to propose higher outputs while keeping investment levels flat. At the same time we are proposing to reduce the allowed returns we earn today.”

The first draft of the Transmission Plan has been submitted to Ofgem’s RIIO-2 Challenge Group with ongoing stakeholder engagement helping to inform the plan as it is refined up to the final submission in December 2019.

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