Investment figures should be ‘warning shot’ for UK, ScottishPower boss says
23 February 2022, 16:44
ScottishPower had 4.8 million customers at the end of December.
The boss of ScottishPower has said the UK needs to speed up its planning and regulatory systems or risk falling behind in the race to be a world leader in renewable energy.
Keith Anderson, who plans to double the amount of onshore wind his company has installed by 2025, said the business is committed to building faster.
The business used to make up around 30% of the global annual investment of its Spanish parent company Iberdrola, but these days the UK is only getting around 11% of Iberdrola’s spending.
“Those numbers are a little bit of a warning shot for the UK,” Mr Anderson said.
He added: “It’s not because we don’t like the UK, it’s not that we’re spending less … what you’re seeing is a whole lot of other companies around the world really speeding up their process.
“This is the challenge for the UK … the UK has been a leader in decarbonisation and deployment of renewables, but other countries are moving really quickly.”
Mr Anderson said Iberdrola does not look at the rate of return or the ability to find potential projects when deciding to invest more in the US over the UK.
He said: “The biggest differentiator is speed. That speed is about network infrastructure being available and grid connections being available, it’s about the planning system, the regulatory system and it’s about the environmental system.
“Despite the ambition going up for the country and for us, none of those processes have changed, none of them are getting faster and other countries are moving faster than us now.
“If we want to stay being a leader, if we want to keep the capital and benefits of investment … we need to start going faster and faster and faster.
“We’re committed to going faster … so come on, the rest of the UK needs to keep up with us.”
ScottishPower reported that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation dropped 11% to £1.6 billion in the last year amid pressure on the side of its business that supplies households.
It had 4.8 million customers at the end of December, which is an increase of around 5% for electricity customers.
