Corporate Update

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC
31 May 2006

31 May 2006
Nr-6115

PLANS FOR THE UK'S FIRST CLEANER COAL POWER PLANT AT FERRYBRIDGE POWER STATION

Scottish and Southern Energy plc ('SSE') has entered into an agreement with
Mitsui Babcock, Siemens and UK Coal to undertake the front end engineering
design of a carbon capture ready 500MW cleaner coal plant at its Ferrybridge
Power Station in West Yorkshire.

The development of the plant would involve the 'retrofit' of a 500MW
Supercritical Boiler and turbine providing a thermal cycle efficiency of more
than 45%, which would be the first of its kind in the UK.  It would be made '
capture ready' to facilitate the subsequent deployment of post-combustion carbon
dioxide capture equipment.  Typical conventional coal-fired power stations have
a thermal efficiency of around 36%.

As the UK Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks stated in April 2006: 'Coal and other
fossil fuels remain vital ingredients in our energy mix, but we need to reduce
the impact that burning them has on our environment.' In this context, the
development announced today would represent a significant step forward in the
provision of de-carbonised electricity in the UK.

On completion, the installation of the supercritical plant would save around
500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year compared with a conventional plant,
which is equivalent to developing 230MW of wind farm capacity.  The subsequent
deployment of carbon capture equipment would save a further 1.7 million tonnes
of carbon dioxide, equivalent to almost 800MW of wind farm capacity.

High-level engineering feasibility studies into the project have already been
completed.  The partners will now carry out further detailed front-end
engineering design work with the aim of confirming the viability of the scheme.
This work is expected to be complete within the next year.  This will allow
investment decisions to be taken during 2007.  Subject to that, the
supercritical plant could be in commercial operation in 2011/12.

Installation of the supercritical plant is estimated to require an investment by
SSE of around £250m and the post-combustion carbon dioxide capture equipment is
estimated to require a further investment by SSE of around £100m.  SSE would own
and operate the supercritical plant and the carbon capture equipment, if
deployed.

The project will also examine the opportunities for securing supplies of fuel
for the station from coal in the UK, such as that mined at Kellingley which is
very close to Ferrybridge itself.

SSE has already begun the installation of flue gas desulpherisation equipment on
half of the capacity at Ferrybridge, which has a total capacity of 2,000MW.

Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE said: 'Investment in the development and
deployment of new and emerging technologies for generating electricity is a key
part of SSE's long-term strategy for sustainable electricity generation in the
UK.  The ability to deploy technology to 'de-carbonise' fuel to provide low
emissions generation, while ensuring we are still able to use coal reserves as
primary fuel sources, would be of enormous value.

'Although it is early days as far as far as this development is concerned, I
believe that cleaner coal represents a very exciting opportunity for SSE and for
the UK as a whole and I am looking forward to the outcome of the next phase of
engineering studies.'

Iain Miller, Chief Operating Officer of Mitsui Babcock, the lead contractor,
said: 'The development of the plant at Ferrybridge paves the way for a
significant new trend in clean coal for the entire industry.  Clean coal
technology is already able to deliver 30-40% reduction in carbon dioxide
emissions but this partnership heralds the beginning of even greater CO2 capture
possibilities.  We hope this is only the start of a new generation of cleaner
coal plants across the UK.'

Jens-Peter Saul, Managing Director, Siemens Power Generation, adds: 'The ability
to retrofit existing fossil fuel power stations with high efficiency, low
emission, power generation technology is a potentially ground-breaking
development for the UK energy industry.  We are very excited to be participating
in this innovative project and working closely with SSE and our partners to
bring these plans to fruition.'

Gerry Spindler, Chief Executive UK Coal concludes: 'This is an exciting prospect
which we are pleased to be part of and hope this venture is indicative of our
joint desires to provide a clean, green generation plant using indigenous coal
to secure some of the UK's energy needs.'

- ENDS -

Notes to Editors:

Supercritical plant operates at greater than 'supercritical pressure' (typically
300 bar) with 6000C steam conditions. By raising the pressure and temperature of
the generated steam to supercritical conditions, power plant efficiency is
increased, making more electricity from less coal and reducing CO2 emissions
compared to a conventional plant.  Supercritical plant can be 'retrofitted' to
existing coal plants, using the existing infrastructure at the site.

Carbon dioxide capture involves generating a concentrated stream of pure carbon
dioxide for capture and injection into a storage site.  Carbon dioxide is
separated and captured from the flue gas stream.  The leading technologies in
post-combustion capture are: chemical solvent absorption using amine-based
solvents, commonly-known as oxyfuel firing. 'Capture' technology is a
well-established means of separating carbon dioxide from natural gas (known as
natural gas 'sweetening') and for some other industrial processes but has not
yet been used in association with electricity generation in the UK.


Enquiries to:

Scottish and Southern Energy plc
Alan Young - Director of Corporate Communications          + 44 (0)870 900 0410
Denis Kerby - Investor and Media Relations Manager         + 44 (0)870 900 0410

Financial Dynamics
Andrew Dowler                                              + 44 (0)20 7831 3113








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