Utility SSE cuts investment plans by $4 billion due to project delays

By Yamini Kalia

(Reuters) -British utility SSE on Wednesday cut its five-year investment plans by 15%, or 3 billion pounds ($4.04 billion), reflecting project delays, supply chain disruptions and also changes in the economic outlook.

SSE, which has been pushing ahead towards green energy goals, reduced its investment to around 17.5 billion pounds, with its renewables division taking the biggest hit with a 1.5 billion pound cut.

Projects that face delays include Berwick Bank, the world's largest offshore wind farm off Scotland's east coast, hydroelectric project Coire Glas, also in Scotland and Arklow Bank wind park in Ireland, CEO Alistair Phillips-Davies said in a media call.

Phillips-Davies said planning bottlenecks and slow policy uptake have also stalled SSE's thermal power and transmission projects.

U.S. President Donald Trump's overt opposition towards wind power has caused problems for the renewable energy sector, where projects are being cancelled and delayed due to rising costs and disrupted supply chains.

Trump's trade policies have also sparked concerns about the health of the global economy. Companies are worried that his tariffs will cause trade disruptions, rising costs, increasing volatility, and weaker demand.

"The Group's investment plans have not been immune to the changing macroeconomic environment and wider delays to the planning processes which have been seen over the last twelve months," SSE said in a statement.

Rival National Grid booked a $402 million impairment charge last week on a paused U.S. wind project and said it saw "no immediate prospect of that project developing".

But Phillips-Davies noted that the Labour government's new planning regime, which aims to decarbonise the electricity sector by 2030, represents a positive development.

SSE's shares were up 1.2% by 0843 GMT.

SSE said its adjusted operating profit came in flat at 2.42 billion pounds for the year ended March 31, compared with 2.43 billion pounds last year.

($1 = 0.7434 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Jane Merriman)