First Minister opens new SSE UK and Ireland onshore renewables HQ in Perth

**John Swinney MSP officially opened the SSE Renewables Onshore Wind, Solar and Battery Control Centre at the company’s Perth HQ this afternoon**

^{IMAGE: Left to right, Ross Fenton, Director of Asset Management, First Minister, John Swinney, Heather Donald, Director of Onshore Wind, Solar and Battery and Stuart Hardy, Control Room Manager at the official opening of the new Onshore Control Centre, Friday 17 January 2025.}

First Minister John Swinney MSP has today officially opened SSE’s new Onshore Wind, Solar and Battery Control Centre at the company’s headquarters in Perth.

It comes after SSE Renewables’ onshore wind, solar and battery operating portfolio grew last year to almost 2.5GW, following the completion of the 443MW Viking Wind Farm in Shetland and its 50MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Salisbury which both entered commercial operations in 2024.

Collectively, the onshore operating portfolio has delivered £62m in index linked community benefit funding across Great Britain, with £58m in Scotland alone. This has helped to unlock over four thousand lifeline community projects in rural Scotland, including 105 community owned houses and enhancing 366 community owned assets from medical centres to shops and sports centres.

The control centre, designed with the feedback of operational staff at its core, will enhance SSE Renewables’ operational facilities in support of expected future growth in its onshore wind, solar and battery portfolio.

With over 800MW of onshore renewables now in construction across the UK and Ireland, the new control centre is an important investment in enabling safe and efficient management of existing and future operations.

First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney MSP, said: “SSE’s new Onshore Renewable Energy Control Centre in Perth will play a critical role in helping Scotland meet our shared renewable energy and climate ambitions. SSE has made significant progress made towards building a cleaner energy system and the Scottish Government is absolutely committed to working with the industry to achieve this goal.

“Having toured these state-of-the-art facilities, it is clear the investment that SSE is putting into the transition to a clean energy system. Meeting members of operational staff has underlined the fantastic opportunities that are being created by this investment and the talent that SSE and industry has to help drive forward the energy transition.”

Heather Donald, Director of Onshore Wind, Solar & Battery, SSE Renewables, said: “We are delighted to have welcomed First Minister John Swinney to officially open our new Onshore Control Centre at Inveralmond House.

“We’re proud to have invested in the development and delivery of this international onshore renewables hub in Perth. This state-of-the-art facility represents a significant leap forward in how we safely and efficiently manage onshore renewable assets across the UK and Ireland.

“As the UK races to a homegrown energy system anchored in clean green renewable power, our investment in this vital operational centre ensures Scotland, with its incredible wind resource, will remain at the heart of the energy transition for decades to come.”