ScottishPower has set out plans for £2 billion of investment in the UK in 2019.

 

Plans include a 50MW battery storage project at Whitelee, the UK’s largest onshore windfarm, said to be  the first of a series of storage schemes.

ScottishPower also plans to develop a 1GW pipeline of onshore wind projects by 2025 – across Scotland and other areas of the UK.

Meanwhile, construction continues at East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm, 43km off the Suffolk coast. The £2.5billion project will see 102 7MW Siemens Gamesa turbines deployed. Planning consent for East Anglia Three has been granted for up to 1,200MW and planning consultations on East Anglia Two and East Anglia One North are under way. They could start construction in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

The investment is part of a planned £6 billion spend in the UK in 2018-2022, of which 40% will be on new renewable energy generation, 42% on networks and 15% on customer products and services.

The latter includes a new public fast-charging service for electric vehicles across the UK. The first will be installed ”at strategic commercial locations” from winter 2019.

 

ScottishPower chief executive Keith Anderson, said, ”Now that we have sold our gas power stations our growth plans are about cleaner and smarter power that will help the UK to decarbonise faster and we have set out the part we will play in the transition to electrify the economy where it matters most now – in transport and in heating.”

ScottishPower’s plans come as part of a major investment programme from its parent company, Iberdrola. Overall, Iberdrola plans that 86% of its investments will be in regulated or long-term contracted activites - €16 billion in networks and €13 billion in renewables.

In Spain the company will invest €8 billion, of which €4.2 billion will be in renewables. That includes a three-fold increase in wind and solar capacity in Spain, adding 10GW by 2030. The Spanish company said its total offshore wind pipeline in the US and Europe would be over 10GW.