National Wealth Fund backs Scottish Power to boost UK grid upgrades

The National Wealth Fund (NWF) has today announced a £600m commitment to ScottishPower, Iberdrola’s subsidiary in the UK, to upgrade the British power grid supporting hundreds of jobs and helping to pave the way for a new era of clean electricity.

The investment forms part of a €1.6bn financing package, led by Bank of America as Sole Debt Arranger and including Bank of America, Bankinter, BNP Paribas, Caixabank, Lloyds Bank, NatWest and Banco Sabadell as lenders. 

NWF’s financing will ensure the swift deployment of capital needed to deliver seven of ScottishPower’s priority transmission grid upgrade projects. These projects will help to facilitate more renewable energy onto the system, reduce congestion costs, lower the cost of electricity for businesses and consumers, and unlock growth across the UK.

The scale of investment required to upgrade the UK electricity grid in support of the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan is significant. In its independent advice to the Government on the pathway towards the 2030 ambition , the National Energy System Operator (NESO) estimates more than €70 billion investment is required in the years to 2030 to support the delivery of a clean power system. 

You can read the full story at the ScottishPower Press Room.