(Bloomberg) -- British power generator SSE Plc and its transmission unit have signed new sustainability-linked revolving credit facilities for £3 billion ($3.9 billion) to support a five-year net zero plan.
The London-listed company’s £1.5 billion revolving credit facility replaces two others totaling the same value that were due to mature in 2026. On top of that, SSEN Transmission’s £1.5 billion facility will refinance and increase its existing £750 million one due in November 2026, according to a statement on Thursday.
These facilities will support delivery of SSE’s Net Zero Acceleration Programme Plus, which will see around £20 billion invested in networks, renewables and system flexibility. Those are central to the UK government’s clean energy plans, with a goal to reach a zero-carbon grid by 2030.
“Both SSE’s and SSEN Transmission’s projects are mission-critical to these efforts and these new committed bank facilities provide a good liquidity base,” Chief Financial Officer Barry O’Regan said in the statement.
The new credit facilities — with a group of 15 banks — will run to October 2029, with options to extend by a further two years, the statement showed.
“The new facilities lengthen SSE’s liquidity runway by up to five years, which is credit-supportive as the company is about to embark on a heavy investment phase,” said Paul Vickars, senior credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “The combined £3 billion facilities should provide sufficient back-up to SSE’s funding program, which calls for net debt to increase by £7 billion — a factor of 2 times — over the next three years.”
(Updates with BI comment.)
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