SSE unit set to provide green energy at forthcoming Hunterston Parc campus in Ayrshire

A key division of Perth-headquartered energy giant SSE has signed paperwork on a deal to provide renewable energy for the proposed development of a major energy and marine campus.

A computer-generated image of the forthcoming Hunterston Parc facility now set to be powered with renewable energy by SSE. Picture: contributed.

Energy infrastructure specialist SSE Energy Solutions, a brand launched in 2021 to combine the group’s business energy and distributed energy arms, has signed the strategic partnership with the owners of Hunterston Port and Resource Campus (Hunterston Parc), the major facility Peel Ports Group is developing on 300 acres of land at the Clydeport facility. SSE will now provide the infrastructure and renewable energy to power the park.

Peel Ports Group, branded the UK’s second-largest port operator, intends to create a business park uniting top industry operators, academics, and innovators to deliver technological advances in areas such as power-generation and aquaculture.

It comes amid Scotland’s bid to be net zero by 2045, while SSE has outlined a £12.5 billion capital investment plan to accelerate progress to 2026. Nathan Sanders, MD at SSE Energy Solutions, said: “The Hunterston Parc project aligns perfectly with our just transition and social value strategies… this development will bring jobs and investment to the west of Scotland, as well as contributing to the UK’s net-zero ambitions.”

The Hunterston site, located 40 minutes from Glasgow, features a deep-water port, on-site rail connectivity, and is already connected to the National Grid. It was also earlier this year granted national development status under the Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework 4, creating opportunities for renewable energy developments to come onstream.

The port group previously announced a long-term deal with sub-sea cabling company XLCC for a major facility at Hunterston Parc to include two factories that could generate 900 more jobs, and final planning approval was obtained this year.

Lewis McIntyre, MD of port services at Peel Ports Group, which aims to be zero across all its sites by 2040, has now said: “We are extremely proud to welcome a partner as significant and well-respected as SSE to Hunterston Parc. This important agreement will support a wide range of other developments across our facility in meeting their energy needs. One of the key, long-term aims of Peel Ports Group has been to repurpose this nationally important port for the blue and green economies, and we look forward to working with SSE on this partnership in the coming years.”