Acquisition

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC
26 February 2004



        SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY BUYS £12 MILLION FIFE POWER STATION


Scottish and Southern Energy plc (SSE) has today announced the purchase of a
120MW gas-fired power station in Cardenden, Fife ('Fife Power') for £12.3
million cash.

The combined cycle gas turbine plant was previously owned by a group of
shareholders, including the US-based energy company El Paso, but has been in
administration since January 2003. SSE purchased it from the Administrators Tom
Burton and Colin Dempster of Ernst & Young.

The plant was constructed in two phases. The first a single open cycle gas
turbine (OCGT), began commercial operation in November 1998. The second phase,
conversion of the plant to CCGT, was complete and began commercial operation in
January 2001. SSE intends to spend up to £3 million more to further upgrade the
plant and reinforce its operational performance.

The acquisition, which follows the £242 million deal to acquire 100% ownership
of Medway Power in October 2003, takes the capacity of SSE's power stations to
almost 5,700MW. SSE now has the fifth largest portfolio of power stations (by
installed capacity) in the UK, owning around 7.5% of the total.

Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said: 'The acquisition of a smaller
station such as Fife Power will provide further diversity of plant mix within
our generation portfolio, particularly in the mid-merit sector.

'The introduction of the new electricity trading rules (BETTA) in April 2005
will remove interconnector constraints and the value of Fife Power to SSE's
generation portfolio can be further optimised. We expect Fife Power to run
flexibly in order to both maximise its value and to support SSE's management of
risk in the electricity market.'

For further information contact:

Alan Young     Director of Corporate Communications     0870 900 0410

Denis Kerby    Media and IR Manager                     0870 900 0410


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange