The figures, published in SSE’s preliminary results today, show £467.2 million of the investment was in electricity transmission, including £108 million on replacing the section of the Beauly Denny replacement line belonging to Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD).
The company invested a further £327.6m in electricity distribution, the majority of which was spent on system upgrades, such as the £19 million project to install 15km of new underground cables between Isleworth and Ealing.
In transmission, operating profit increased by 34.7 per cent to £184.1 million. The company said this “reflects the increase in regulated revenue” as a result of the “major programme of capital investment undertaken in recent years”.
For 2015/16, Scottish Hydro Electic (SHE) Transmission expects to invest over £600 million, including the first full year of construction on the Caithness to Moray transmission link.
For distribution, the company saw a 7 per cent decrease in operating profit which it said “principally results from a reduction in revenue” across the two networks compared with 2013/14 and “higher ongoing depreciation charges”.
SSE owns three electricity network subsidiaries: Southern Electric Power Distribution, SHEPD, and SHE Transmission, as well as a 50 per cent stake in Scotia Gas Networks.
The firm’s total capital and investment expenditure in the year to 31 March 2015 was £1,475.3 million, compared with £1,582.5 million in the year before.
“Central to SSE’s strategy is efficient investment in a balanced range of economically-regulated and market-based energy businesses,” it said.