SSE’s director of renewables Paul Cooley said the agreement represents the “latest step” in a programme of acquisitions and disposals to optimise the company’s windfarm portfolio”.
He added that the proceeds from the sale of Langhope Rig will “help support its investment in renewable assets”.
GE, which provided SSE with the 10 turbines for the array, will take over ownership and operation when construction of the windfarm is completed this spring. The deal will see the £5,000 per MW community investment fund associated with the project remain intact.
SSE’s current UK onshore windfarm portfolio comprises: 940MW in operation; 246MW in construction or pre-construction; and 358MW with consent for development. In Ireland, it comprises: 544MW in operation; 116MW in construction or pre-construction; and 56MW with consent.
The company said that, as it moves forward the next phase of its renewable energy development pipeline, it is focusing on projects that “best allow the efficient allocation of resources and economies of scale”.
In February last year, SSE withdrew its proposals for two onshore windfarm projects, the 81MW Dalnessie windfarm in Sutherland and a 36MW extension to the Fairburn windfarm in Ross-shire, having concluded that investment in progressing them was “no longer financially viable”.
In March, the company said it would not take forward the Galloper, Sea Green, Forewind and Islay offshore schemes and would instead focus efforts on the 750MW Beatrice offshore array, in order to “streamline and simplify” the business.
Then, in November, the company announced it would sell 25 per cent of the Beatrice windfarm to fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), which it said aligned with its “strategic review of its offshore wind portfolio”.