SSEN Transmission, the 75%-owned subsidiary of Perth-based electricity infrastructure giant SSE plc, has successfully issued a £500 million 20-year green bond maturing on January 15, 2044, at a fixed coupon of 5.5% with an all-in funding cost of 5.575%.
The bond was 3.5 times oversubscribed.
“Today issuance is SSE’s seventh green bond in eight years and reaffirms its status as the largest UK corporate issuer of green bonds,” said SSE, which is the largest listed company run from Scotland with a stock market value over £20 billion.
“This brings the total outstanding green bonds issued by SSE and subsidiaries to £3.7bn, of which £1.3bn has been issued directly by SSEN Transmission.
“The proceeds from today’s green bond will specifically help finance and/or refinance critical national infrastructure projects within SSEN Transmission, with the business benefiting from strong visibility over future growth through Ofgem’s Large Onshore Transmission Investments (LOTI) re-opener and the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework.
“The visibility from LOTI and ASTI, alongside greater certainty over supply chain costs, led to SSE updating its investment programme, or Net Zero Acceleration Programme Plus (NZAP Plus), in November 2023.
“SSE now expects to invest £20.5bn across the five years to 2026/27, with SSEN Transmission expected to invest around £7.5bn net (around £10bn gross) in that period.”
SHET plc, trading name SSEN Transmission, is responsible for the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland, maintaining and investing in the high voltage 132kV, 220kV, 275kV and 400kV electricity transmission network.
SSE chief financial officer Barry O’Regan said: “SSE is investing in high-quality assets right across the group and our Transmission business has a significant pipeline of nationally important investments which will make a significant impact as Scotland and the UK seek to meet renewables deployment and climate targets.
“These projects are essential to the clean energy transition and this bond therefore offers an attractive proposition to investors looking to channel finance into green infrastructure.
“Today’s new green bond has been extremely well received and was 3.5 times oversubscribed.
“This new issuance is consistent with our commitment to maintaining a strong balance sheet through financial discipline and will help us deliver our increased £20.5bn investment under our NZAP Plus.”