SSE Regulatory News (SSE)

SSE PLC

SSE ISSUES €650m GREEN BOND

SSE plc has successfully issued a €650m 7-year green bond maturing 1 August 2029 at a coupon of 2.875 per cent.

Today's issuance is SSE's fifth green bond in six years and reaffirms its status as the largest issuer of green bonds from the UK corporate sector. It remains the only UK corporate to offer up multiple green bonds and this latest issuance brings SSE's total outstanding green bonds to over £2.5bn. 

SSE continues to make progress with delivery of its £12.5bn Net Zero Acceleration Programme, set out last November, which will see it double its renewables capacity by 2026. The green bond proceeds are earmarked to help fund SSE Renewables projects currently under construction or recently completed such as the Gordonbush Extension, Viking and Seagreen wind farms, as well as the world's largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank.

SSE expects to deliver around a fifth of the UK's target of 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 as part of plans that could see it invest £25bn in the UK alone by the end of the decade.

Gregor Alexander, SSE's Finance Director, said: "We have always viewed optionality, agility and discipline as important qualities in financing. This has only been emphasised by the continued volatility in the capital markets due to rising inflation impacting on Central Bank plans for raising rates.

Notwithstanding the current challenging market conditions, today's new green bond has been extremely well received, and was considerably oversubscribed. This latest green bond is consistent with our commitment to maintaining a strong balance sheet as we continue our Net Zero Acceleration Programme investments, and will enable us to continue to deliver cleaner, more secure and more affordable energy."

Notes

SSE's recently published Green Bond Report can be found at https://www.sse.com/greenbond, along with an Assurance Report from PwC and DNV's Opinion Report on this new green bond issuance.