Corporate Update

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC
24 February 2006


THE PRIME MINISTER AND SCOTLAND'S FIRST MINISTER START CONSTRUCTION WORK AT
SSE'S £140 MILLION GLENDOE HYDRO-ELECTRIC SCHEME


The Prime Minister, Tony Blair and Scotland's First Minister, Jack McConnell,
today visited Loch Ness to mark the start of construction work at Scottish and
Southern Energy's (SSE) £140m Glendoe hydro-electric scheme near Fort Augustus.
With an installed capacity of around 100MW (megawatts), Glendoe will be
Scotland's first conventional large-scale hydro-electric power station for 50
years.

The Prime Minister pressed the button which led to a controlled explosion on the
hillside adjacent to the loch. The explosion was the first step in the
development of the tunnels which will allow water from a new reservoir, which
will be built over 600m above Loch Ness, to reach an underground power station
near the south east corner of the loch before being discharged into the loch
itself.

The new power station will be able to generate enough green electricity to power
almost 250,000 homes when operating at full capacity. Up to 400 jobs will be
created during the construction phase and the power station is expected to be
generating electricity commercially from the winter of 2008/09.

Later, the Prime Minister and the First Minister visited SSE's Foyers Power
Station, on the south shore of Loch Ness, following a £7m refurbishment of the
station's control systems.

They also presented pupils of Kilchuimen Primary School, Fort Augustus, with a
rooftop wind turbine designed, developed and manufactured by the Edinburgh-based
Swift Turbines, and pupils of Foyers Primary School with a fund from SSE for
environmental improvements to their school.

The Prime Minister and the First Minister also met representatives of Scotland's
energy sector to discuss the key issues facing renewable and low carbon energy
in Scotland and the opportunities which the current review of energy policy in
the UK provides to ensure that the industry in Scotland can fulfil its
potential.

Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said: 'Glendoe complements SSE's
investment in refurbishing our existing hydro stations, in onshore wind energy
and in biomass. It also complements our other interests in offshore wind, marine
energy, micro generation and carbon capture and demonstrates that Scotland is at
the leading edge of renewable energy developments in the UK.'


Enquiries to:
Scottish and Southern Energy
Alan Young, Director of Corporate Communications      0870 900 0410
Denis Kerby, Media and Investor Relations Manager     0870 900 0410



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