UK's Scottish Southern becomes second European company to quit nuclear business

UK's second-largest energy company Scottish and Southern (SSE), has dropped plans to enter the nuclear energy business and instead opted to generate more electricity from renewable energy sources, the second company in Europe in recent weeks to walk away from nuclear energy altogether.

SSE's move comes barely a week after Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering company, said that it would cease building nuclear power plants globally and focus on renewable energy following the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in Japan. (See: Siemens AG to exit nuclear business, focus on renewable energy)

Although SSE's decision on quitting the nuclear business has nothing to do with the Japanese nuclear disaster, more and more companies in Europe are planning to abandon nuclear power and go in for renewable energy.

Scotland-based SSE, the UK's second largest electricity generator, with a total capacity of just over 11,300 MW, of which, 2,500 MWm comes from renewable energy, sold its 25 per cent stake to its partners in NuGeneration Ltd (NuGen), a  joint venture with France's GDF Suez and Spain's Iberdrola that would have seen it producing nuclear energy for the first time.

SSE said that it has concluded that its resources are better deployed on business activities and technologies where it has the greatest knowledge and experience.

NuGen was formed by the consortium to build two nuclear plants at Sellafield in West Cumbria and SSE had joined the consortium with an eye on gaining experience in the nuclear energy business.