SSE has provisionally secured 5.66GW of capacity agreements during the T-4 Capacity Market Auction (CMA) for delivery year 2027/28, which closed this week.
The T-4 CMA for delivery year 2027/28 ended on 27 February after two rounds at a record clearing price of £65/kW/year – £2/kW/year higher than the 2023 auction clearing price, which was itself a record.
The de-rated capacity agreements were spread across the energy company’s renewable and thermal fleets, including joint venture interests.
SSE Renewables – the renewable energy IPP arm of SSE – secured a total of 1,148MW of de-rated capacity; the majority of this (1,074MW) was awarded to the company’s hydropower assets.
Three of SSE Renewable’s battery storage assets that are currently under construction were also awarded 15-year agreements, these were: Monk Fryston (32MW), Ferrybridge (15MW) and Fiddler’s Ferry (15MW).
SSE Renewables made its final investment decisions on Monk Fryston in November 2023; at 320MW/640MWh, the battery energy storage system (BESS) is set to be the largest of its kind under construction in the UK.
“Through this auction process, our hydropower assets are continuing to demonstrate their value to Great Britain’s energy market some 80 years after they first brought electricity to the Scottish Highlands,” said Stephen Wheeler, managing director at SSE Renewables.
“Additionally, contract wins for new battery storage projects, which we’re currently building in Northern England, are supporting our accelerated growth plans through the delivery of our secure 1.2GW pipeline of utility-scale solar and battery projects. In securing over 1.1GW of capacity, our mix of renewable technologies will play important and complementary roles in delivering increasing amounts of renewable energy generation and flexibility to help meet the UK’s climate action goals.”
The greater part of SSE’s awarded capacity agreements was given to three of SSE Thermal’s gas-fired power stations, Peterhead (1,081MW), Keadby 1 (692MW) and Medway (673MW).