ScottishPower Ltd. is a vertically integrated
energyIn physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
company with its headquarters in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland. It was listed on the
London Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and was once a constituent of the
FTSE 100 IndexThe FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
but in 2006 it became a subsidiary of the Spanish utility
IberdrolaIberdrola , headquartered in Bilbao, is a private utility with a global footprint and over 150 years of experience...
. It is the
Distribution Network OperatorDistribution network operators are companies licensed to distribute electricity in Great Britain by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets....
(DNO) for the central and southern Scotland and the
MerseysideMerseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
and North Wales regions. It is also the Transmission Owner (TO) for the south of Scotland. The company also supplies
electricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
and
gasNatural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
to homes and business around the United Kingdom and generates power for supply to the grid. It also owns
PPM Energy in the United States.
Foundation
ScottishPower was formed in 1990, in preparation for the privatisation of the previously state owned Scottish electricity industry the following year. Previously the UK government had privatised the English and Welsh electricity industry by splitting the market into 12 regional electricity companies (RECs) and two power generators. However in Scotland, the industry was already organised on an integrated generation, distribution and supply basis, and this integration survived the privatisation to become a model for the rest of the United Kingdom. Scottish Power was largely formed from the larger of the two Scottish electricity boards, the
South of Scotland Electricity BoardThe South of Scotland Electricity Board , was formed as a result of the Electricity Reorganisation Act 1954. On 1 April 1955, the two southern Scottish Area Electricity Boards were merged into the South of Scotland Electricity Board...
, whilst the other, the North of Scotland Hydro Board, eventually became part of the Scottish and Southern Energy Group (the nuclear power stations in Scotland were spun off into a third company,
Scottish NuclearScottish Nuclear was formed as a precursor to the privatization of the Electricity Supply Industry in Scotland on 1 April 1990. It consisted of the nuclear assets of the South of Scotland Electricity Board...
, which was not sold off with Scottish Power and
Scottish Hydro ElectricScottish Hydro plc was a Public Electricity Supplier formed on 1 August 1989 after a change of name from North of Scotland Electricity plc on that date...
, but was sold later as part of
British EnergyBritish Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal fired power station....
).
Manweb and Southern Water
ScottishPower was the larger of the two Scottish energy companies and benefited from being both a generator and supplier of power. In 1995 it acquired the Regional Electricity Company,
ManwebMANWEB was the regional electricity supplier and distributor for Merseyside, North Wales and parts of Cheshire...
which supplied
MerseysideMerseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
and North Wales. In 1996 the company diversified into the
waterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
supply business with the purchase of
Southern WaterSouthern Water is the utility responsible for wastewater collection and treatment in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and for water supply and distribution in the approximately half of this area...
(which was sold again in 2002).
When the supply of energy into British homes was opened up to competition, ScottishPower entered this market, stealing share from the previous gas supply monopoly
British GasBritish Gas plc was formerly the monopoly gas supplier and is a private sector in the United Kingdom.- History :In the early 1900s the gas market in the United Kingdom was mainly run by county councils and small private firms...
and also building new market share in England and Wales.
Thus
ScottishPower established the telecommunications company, Thus (originally known as Scottish Telecom) and then floated it on the
London Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
in 2002.
Pacificorp
In 2000, ScottishPower completed the acquisition of
PacificorpPacifiCorp is an electric power company in the northwestern United States.PacifiCorp has three primary subsidiaries:# Pacific Power is a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington.# Rocky Mountain Power is a regulated...
which supplies electricity in the western United States, which operates as
Pacific Power (in the regulated energy industries of the states of
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Washington,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
), and as
Rocky Mountain Power (in the regulated energy industries of the states of
IdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
and
UtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
as well as both and central and eastern
WyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
(former Pacific Power territory), and southwestern
WyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
). In May 2005, ScottishPower announced that it had agreed to sell Pacificorp to
MidAmerican Energy Holdings CompanyMidAmerican Energy Holdings Company is a holding company controlled by Berkshire Hathaway.Gregory E Abel serves as president, chairman and CEO.-Investments:MidAmerican holds the following companies:*MidAmerican Energy Company*PacifiCorp*CE Electric UK...
, a company controlled by
Warren BuffettWarren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
's company,
Berkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
, for US$5.1 billion in cash and US$4.3 billion in debt and preferred stock. The successful completion of the deal was announced on 21 March 2006, after securing regulatory approvals. The deal did not include
PPM Energy (which as Pacificorp Power Marketing was formerly the non-regulated subsidiary of Pacificorp).
Rejected takeover bid from E.ON
Following the announcement, the group's share price rose, but were now widely seen as vulnerable to a takeover. It was soon revealed that German energy group
E.ONE.ON AG, marketed with an interpunct as E•ON, is the holding company of the world's largest investor-owned energy service provider based in Düsseldorf, Germany. The name comes from the Greek word aeon which means eternity....
, who also own Powergen, were interested in a takeover. On November 22, 2005 the board rejected an offer from E.ON of 570 pence a share, which would have valued the group at £10.7 billion.
Takeover bid from Iberdrola
On November 28, 2006, the board of directors of ScottishPower agreed to a £11.6 billion takeover bid by the Spanish energy firm
IberdrolaIberdrola , headquartered in Bilbao, is a private utility with a global footprint and over 150 years of experience...
. The offer was formally approved by shareholders at an
EGMAn extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body, which occurs at an irregular time. The term is usually used where the group would ordinarily hold an annual general meeting , but...
on 30 March 2007, effectively creating Europe's third largest utility company.
Ofgem investigations
In April 2007, the British government's energy
regulatorRegulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
, the
Office of Gas and Electricity MarketsThe Office of Gas and Electricity Markets , supporting the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority , is the government regulator for the electricity and downstream natural gas markets in Great Britain...
(Ofgem), urged customers of Scottish Power and
EDF EnergyEDF Energy is an integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the United Kingdom...
to switch to a cheaper provider after the firms refused to cut prices in line with the rest of the industry.
In April 2008 Ofgem launched an investigation into allegations that Scottish Power abused their dominant market position relating to the electricity transmission network they own jointly in Scotland. Ofgem said it had launched its inquiry into Scottish Power and Scottish & Southern Energy under section 18 of the
Competition ActThe Competition Act is a Canadian federal law governing most business conduct.The Act contains both criminal and civil provisions aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices in the marketplace....
, "based on a formal complaint alleging abuse of a dominant position in the electricity generation sector arising from constrained capacity on the transmission network." The energy regulator believes that energy generators manipulate the power market for profit when supplies are tight because network operator National Grid has to pay utilities to turn their plants on or off to balance supply and demand. This resulted in companies deliberately shutting their plants down when supplies are tight in order to receive a higher payment to start up again, increasing the system balancing costs at the expense of consumers. Ofgem were alarmed that the cost of balancing the system increased from £70 million in 2007/08 to an estimated £238 million for 2008/09 and an expected £258 million pounds in 2009/10, with most of the costs incurred in Scotland. In January 2009, Ofgem suspended the investigation, saying it would be more effective to deal with the wider problem than pursuing the specific case further.
Energy Retail
The Energy Retail division contains
ScottishPower Energy Retail Ltd which holds the gas and electricity supply licenses and has over 5.2 million customers in the UK. Also included in this division is
SP Dataserve Ltd which is responsible for the metering and data management work and is the first ever meter reading company to allow customers to text in their meter readings.
Energy Networks
The Energy Networks business contains three asset owning companies
SP Transmission Ltd - holds the transmission license for central and southern Scotland and owns the part of the Moyle Interconnector with
Northern Ireland ElectricityNorthern Ireland Electricity Limited is the electricity asset owner of the transmission and distribution infrastructure in Northern Ireland. NIE does not own generate or supply electricity. NIE is a subsidiary of ESB Group....
,
SP Distribution Ltd - holds the distribution licence for central and southern Scotland and
SP Manweb Plc - holds the distribution licence for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire. A fourth asset management business
SP Power Systems Ltd maintains and repairs the distribution networks on behalf of the owners and acts as the
Distribution Network OperatorDistribution network operators are companies licensed to distribute electricity in Great Britain by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets....
. The operation of the transmission grid is carried out by
National Grid plcNational Grid plc is a multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its principal activities are in the United Kingdom and northeastern United States and it is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world.National Grid is listed on...
.
Energy Wholesale
Energy Wholesale contains two companies
ScottishPower Generation Ltd which generates 6,200MW of electricity power in the United Kingdom using coal fired thermal power stations,
combined cycleIn electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators...
power stations, hydro-electric schemes, pumped storage generation. They are the sole customer of ScottishPower Renewables (SPR). SPR is a completely separate company and has substantial
wind farmA wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
s.On 2006-04-27 and were granted permission to build Europe's largest on-shore
windfarmWindFarm is wind energy software used to analyse, design, optimise and visualise wind farms. It calculates and optimises the energy yield subject to natural, planning and engineering constraints. WindFarm has the wind modelling software MS-Micro integrated. MS-Micro is based on the same...
. The 322 MW / 140
turbineA turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
site will cost an estimated £300m and cover an area of approximately 55 km² of moorland south of
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. Also within this division is
Scottish Power Energy Management Ltd which is responsible for buying and selling wholesale energy.
In 2005, the WWF named Scottish Power's
Cockenzie power stationCockenzie power station is a coal-fired power station in East Lothian, Scotland, capable of co-firing biomass. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, near the town of Cockenzie and Port Seton, east of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. The station has dominated the local...
as the UK's
least carbon-efficient power station.
In 2007, the WWF named Scottish Power's
Longannet power stationLongannet power station is a large coal-fired power station in Fife capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, near Kincardine on Forth. Its generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts is the highest of any power station in...
as the UK's least carbon-efficient power station
out of Europe's top 30 worst polluting power stations in absolute terms
.
ScottishPower Generation Portfolio
| Station Name |
Generation Capacity |
Installation |
Fuel |
Longannet Power StationLongannet power station is a large coal-fired power station in Fife capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, near Kincardine on Forth. Its generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts is the highest of any power station in...
|
2,400 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
4 x 600 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
GEC Turbo-alternators
Each set is formed of a pair of 300 MWThe watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
cross compound coupled T/A |
CoalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
|
Cockenzie Power StationCockenzie power station is a coal-fired power station in East Lothian, Scotland, capable of co-firing biomass. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, near the town of Cockenzie and Port Seton, east of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. The station has dominated the local...
|
1,200 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
4 x 300 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
English Electric Turbo-alternators |
Coal |
| Rye House Power Station Rye House Power Station is a 715MW combined cycle gas turbine power station close to Rye House railway station in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.-History:...
|
715 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
3 single-shaft Siemens V94.2 gas turbines @ 150MW each & 1 250MW T/A |
Gas Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
|
| Damhead Creek Power Station Damhead Creek power station is a 792 MWe gas-fired power station in Kent, England on the Hoo Peninsula.-History:The plant was commissioned by Entergy, an American power firm, and built by Raytheon Engineers and Constructor and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, who provided the gas turbine...
|
793 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
|
Gas |
| Shoreham Power Station Shoreham Power Station is a 400MWe combined cycle gas-fired power station in Southwick, West Sussex. It was built on the site of the Brighton A & B Power Stations. Predating these stations, town of Brighton has a long history of electrical supply....
|
420 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
Alstom GT26B Gas Turbine in Combined Cycle with Alstom Steam Turbine |
Gas |
| Blackburn CHP Power Station |
65 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
1 x 43MW Siemens SGT800 Gas Turbine & 1 x 22MW Siemens VAX Steam Turbine |
Gas |
| Cruachan Power Station The Cruachan Dam is a pumped-storage hydroelectric dam and power station in Argyll and Bute, Scotland....
|
440 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
|
Pumped StoragePumped-storage hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric power generation used by some power plants for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. Low-cost off-peak electric power is used to run the pumps...
|
| Galloway Hydro Electric Scheme The Galloway hydro-electric power scheme is a network of dams and hydro-electric power stations in Galloway, south west Scotland. It was built between 1930 and 1936....
|
106.5 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
|
HydroHydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
|
| Lanark Hydro Electric Scheme The Falls of Clyde is the collective name of four linn on the River Clyde near New Lanark, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The Falls of Clyde comprise the upper falls of Bonnington Linn, Corra Linn, Dundaff Linn, and the lower falls of Stonebyres Linn. Corra Linn is the highest, with a fall of 90 feet...
|
17 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
|
Hydro |
| Whitelee Wind Farm Whitelee Wind Farm is the largest wind farm in Europe, with 140 Siemens wind turbines and a total capacity of 322 megawatts . Whitelee was developed and is operated by ScottishPower Renewables, which is part of the Spanish company Iberdrola. Whitelee Wind Farm has a 75 turbine extension under...
|
322 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
140 Siemens wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
s |
Wind Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
|
| Black Law Wind Farm The 42-turbine Black Law Wind Farm has a total capacity of 97 megawatts , sufficient to meet the average electricity needs of 70,000 homes each year - or a town the size of Paisley - and is estimated to save around 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.The £90 million wind farm is...
|
124 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
|
54 Siemens wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
s |
Wind Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
|
| Inverkip Power Station Inverkip power station is an oil-fired power station in Inverclyde, on the west coast of Scotland. It is actually located closer to Wemyss Bay than Inverkip, and dominates the local area with its chimney, the third tallest chimney in the UK and Scotland's tallest free-standing structure...
|
2028 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
mothballed |
3 x 676 MW The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
Parsons Turbo-alternators |
Oil |
PPM Energy
PPM Energy Inc was previously the competitive arm
PacificorpPacifiCorp is an electric power company in the northwestern United States.PacifiCorp has three primary subsidiaries:# Pacific Power is a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington.# Rocky Mountain Power is a regulated...
but was made a separate business in 2002. It is involved in
renewable energyRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
and gas storage amongst other things in the US.
See also
- Energy policy of the United Kingdom
The current energy policy of the United Kingdom is set out in the Energy White Paper of May 2007 and Low Carbon Transition Plan of July 2009, building on previous work including the 2003 Energy White Paper and the Energy Review Report in 2006...
- Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
Energy use in the United Kingdom stood at 3,894.6 kilogrammes of oil equivalent per capita in 2005 compared to a world average of 1,778.0. In 2008, total energy consumed was 9.85 exajoules - around 2% of the estimated 474 EJ worldwide total...
- Green electricity in the United Kingdom
There are a number of suppliers offering 'green' electricity in the United Kingdom, either supplying electricity from existing environmentally friendly energy sources, promising to invest a proportion of profits into new renewable energy generating capacity, carrying out carbon offsetting, or some...
External links