Scottish & Southern Energy
After completing the UK's first wind farm with a capacity over 100MW in 2006, we were expecting something special from SSE last year. Oh well...
To be fair, they are halfway through the construction of a huge new hydroelectric dam at the foot of Loch Ness. The pro's and con's of hydro can be debated, but the 100MW project could power a city the size of Glasgow.
But as with with most suppliers, there's always a flipside. Last year the Scottish Wind Assessment Project criticised SSE for down-rating seven large hydro-power stations, cutting their generating capacity by 45 MW, so that they would qualify for Renewable Obligation subsidies.
Whilst SSE's two green tariffs claim to be 100% renewable, 90% of the supply is from large-scale hydro, so old that it doesn't qualify for ROCs. And their £5 donation each year to RSPB might win a few hearts, but we suspect more money might be spent on SSE lawyers suing the EU for an increase in their already overgenerous carbon emissions allowance.
- 2007 New Build:
- £0 million
- WhichGreen ranking:
- Joint 6th
- Ranking on price:
- Joint 1st (power2), joint 1st (Better Plan) and 5th (RSPB Energy) out of 16 tariffs
- Price difference:
- 6% less expensive and 1% less expensive
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