Acquisition

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC
15 February 2008

                         SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY PLC

              COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION OF AIRTRICITY HOLDINGS LTD

Scottish and Southern Energy plc ('SSE') has today completed the acquisition of
Airtricity Holdings Ltd ('Airtricity'), following the agreement announced on 4
January 2008. The enterprise value of the business being acquired is €1,455m.

Airtricity is a well established Dublin-based renewable energy company
developing and operating wind farms in the UK and Ireland, developing wind farms
in continental Europe and China and supplying electricity to mainly commercial
customers in Ireland.

Airtricity will continue to operate as a renewable energy business and will be
led by Paul Dowling, formerly Chief Operating Officer of Airtricity and now its
Chief Executive.

The combination of Airtricity's assets with its existing assets means SSE now
has (net of joint venture interests):

  • a total of almost 10,500MW of electricity generation capacity;
  • over 1,900MW of renewable energy capacity, including hydro, pumped
    storage, wind and biomass;
  • almost 480MW of operating onshore wind energy capacity, making it the
    largest wind farm operator across the UK and Ireland;
  • a portfolio of onshore wind farms and hydro schemes with full consent
    and/or under construction of almost 540MW (including Fairburn);
  • a total of 545MW of offshore wind farm developments with consent; and
  • an established electricity supply business operating in the all-island
    market.

SSE has also acquired Airtricity's extensive portfolio of other onshore and
offshore wind energy projects in the UK (which will supplement its existing
development opportunities), Ireland, Europe and China. The UK developments
include the 483MW onshore wind farm proposed for Clyde, between Biggar and
Moffat in southern Scotland, which is at an advanced stage in the consent
process.

As a result, SSE expects to have over 3,500MW of operating renewable energy
capacity, including hydro, pumped storage and biomass, in 2013, and will have a
major new range of investment opportunties from which to secure growth over the
next decade. Against this background, SSE will review its current target of
reducing the amount of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of electricity, produced
at power stations in which it has an ownership or contractual interest, by 20%
over the ten years to 2016.

SSE's dividend target of at least 4% annual real growth in 2008, 2009 and 2010
is unchanged.  The acquisition, and the investment opportunities it yields, are
expected to help SSE maintain its track record of dividend growth well into the
second decade of this century.

Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said:


'I am delighted that this acquisition has been completed so quickly. Over the
past few weeks, the Airtricity and SSE teams have worked very well together, and
we've already laid foundations for future success. I am looking forward to
working with Paul Dowling on the task of combining SSE's and Airtricity's
renewable energy forces and creating an excellent platform for long-term growth
that is sustainable in every sense.'

NOTE: SSE will provide an update on its plans and activities in sustainable
energy on 26 March.



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