SSE has sold off its non-operational Uskmouth coal-fired power plant in Newport, South Wales. Neither the price nor details of the new owners were disclosed.
The plant’s new owner is a consortium of international investors with interests in a wide range of mining, coal and cement production assets worldwide. Following ‘intense efforts’ to secure a sustainable future for Uskmouth and its 83 strong workforce earlier this year, it was ‘with regret’ that SSE decided to close it in May 2014.
The deal allows a new company to take over site and determine its future under a new business model.
Paul Smith, SSE Managing Director of Generation, said: “We invested a great deal of time in order to achieve a positive outcome for the expired Uskmouth plant.
“Suitable purchasers for such assets are very limited in today’s marketplace and signing over the decommissioned site to the consortium was the next logical step for a plant that had reached the end of its operational life within SSE’s portfolio. We are hopeful the Uskmouth plant will have a viable future under its new owner, which we believe has a workable business plan and can take the asset forward.
“The new buyer has indicated, subject to their future work plans for the site, that there would be the opportunity for re-hiring former (SSE) employees”.
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