Street lighting contract

Scottish and Southern Energy, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tay Valley Lighting, has been appointed preferred bidder for the £225m, 25-year South Coast Streetlighting PFI (Private Finance Initiative).

The South Coast Street Lighting PFI is the largest street lighting PFI project in the UK and includes lighting services for Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council and West Sussex County Council.

Under the contract, another of SSE’s subsidiaries, Southern Electric Contracting (SEC) will replace and maintain 250,000 streetlights, illuminated signs and bollards.

The contract is expected to be concluded later this year. It will take the number of local authorities with which SSE has long-term street lighting replacement and maintenance PFI contracts to 10 and the number of lighting units covered by such contracts to more than 500,000.

Earlier this month, in an unrelated move, SSE entered into an agreement with the Welsh Power Group to acquire Uskmouth Power Company, the owner and operator of the 363MW Uskmouth coal-fired power station near Newport, South Wales, for £27m.