Scottish generator looks south

SCOTTISH Hydro-Electric is poised for a major expansion south of the border which will result in a substantial increase in its power- generating interests in England, writes Michael Harrison.

The company, the smaller of the two Scottish generators, is also mulling a bid for London Electricity, put up for sale by its US owners, Entergy.

Hydro-Electric makes a third of operating profits from England and Wales and is seeking to increase this share. It is expected to press ahead with an expansion of its 750-megawatt Seabank gas-fired station near Bristol, owned jointly with BG. It plans to raise the capacity of the station by 450 megawatts.

Together with its Keadby station in South Yorkshire and its interest in Intergen's Rocksavage plant, this will raise Hydro-Electric's share of the generating market from 9 per cent to 12 per cent.

Hydro-Electric is also expected to be among the companies bidding to take over generating capacity from PowerGen and National Power, which are under pressure from the industry regulator Professor to dispose of up to half their coal-fired stations.