SSEN Transmission's 2022/23 Sustainability, Annual Performance and 'Getting to Net Zero' reports published
Today at SSEN Transmission we have published the second release of our Annual Sustainability Report, providing comprehensive detail on our progress in fulfilling our sustainability commitments throughout the financial year from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.
In 2019, as part of our RIIO-T2 planning process, we revised our sustainability strategy to ensure that our approach remains relevant and effective in addressing the ever-changing landscape of economic, environmental and social challenges – and in doing so, we set out six strategic ambitions to enable a smart, sustainable energy future:
- Connecting for Society
- Tackling Climate Change
- Promoting a Natural Environment
- Optimising Resources
- Supporting Communities
- Growing Careers
Those ambitions align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which represent a global consensus on the priorities for creating a better and more sustainable future for all.
And as part of our commitment to sustainability, we also developed a comprehensive Sustainability Action Plan, building on our strategic ambitions, outlining specific outcomes for each and establishing short, medium and long-term steps for delivering on our sustainable goals.
We’re proud of the work that has been done to deliver on those ambitions so far and the launch of today’s report provides comprehensive detail on the progress that has been made, whilst outlining the next steps SSEN Transmission will take on its journey to enabling a smart, sustainable energy future.
Amongst other achievements, in the last year, we have:
- Achieved a sector-leading score in the Quality of Connections Survey and were the top performing Transmission Owner - connecting 1.4 GW of renewable energy to our network;
- To help support our ambitious emissions reduction targets we have kicked off a collaboration with Cardiff University which aims to grasp condition monitoring needs for alternative gases to SF₆ and aid engineers in spotting initial failures and facilitating repairs;
- Achieved no biodiversity net loss on projects granted consent, with seven of our major projects yielding a biodiversity net gain of over 10%;
- Set out our approach to engage with Ofgem, communities and other stakeholders on plans for our first ever Community Benefit Fund; and
- Won the Employer of the Year Award at the 2022 Utility Week Awards for our efforts to create an inclusive and engaged workforce.
Looking beyond those achievements, the report also outlines our ambition to go further in terms of our SF₆ leakage performance, which does remain well below the regulatory target set by Ofgem, but was higher than trend for the year.
Commenting on the launch of the report, SSEN Transmission’s Managing Director, Rob McDonald, said: “Following a year of unprecedented global energy challenges, including the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it’s clear that the urgent need to power change in the energy system is gaining momentum amongst businesses, government, and wider society.
“At SSEN Transmission, we are committed to fulfilling our ambitious and comprehensive sustainability ambitions to enable a smart, sustainable energy future and as we navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with that, our commitment to sustainability remains firm.”
Find out more about our six ambitions, and or performance against them, by reading SSEN Transmission’s 2022/23 Annual Sustainability Report.
As well as the Sustainability Report, we have also published our Annual Performance Report and an update on Getting to Net Zero today. Our Annual performance report highlights our key achievements across the year and presents an accessible and transparent summary of our business performance over the last 12 months. With another year of strong performance in 2022/23, we are delivering as planned on our RIIO-T2 outputs and making progress against our five ambitious goals for 2026. This is testament to the hard work of our dedicated teams, supported by our contractors, customers and stakeholders.
We have achieved the maximum reward available through the Energy Not Supplied Incentive for the third consecutive year, keeping the lights on for communities around the North of Scotland and ensuring reliable network access for our electricity generation customers to support security of supply. We continue to make great progress in the delivery of our capital investment programme, with work to connect Shetland to the GB transmission for the first time well on track for completion next summer. We also energised the second phase of the Inveraray-Crossaig overhead line replacement project, alongside continued good progress to increase the capacity of the North East transmission network to 400kV.
These investments are key to help deliver UK and Scottish Government net zero and energy security targets, supporting the national endeavour to build a cleaner, more secure and affordable energy system for homes and businesses across Great Britain, with 2022/23 a pivotal year in establishing the future electricity network reinforcements required to deliver this ambition. Read more in the full report.
Our Getting to Net Zero report looks at the leading role that the north of Scotland will play in enabling decarbonisation and reaching net zero. New research concludes that by 2050, nearly a third of the UK’s electricity demand could be met by the north of Scotland, driving 16% of the total greenhouse gas emissions reductions required for the UK’s net zero target.