OREANDA-NEWS. May 21, 2015. SSE has posted a mixed set of financial results this morning, with profits in our Wholesale division down 25% on the back of a difficult year and some challenging long-term trends in the energy sector.

Ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, volatility in the energy-related commodity markets, intense competition, greater government intervention and the ongoing move to decarbonisation have created a 'perfect storm' that we have to ride through to meet our responsibilities to energy customers, investors, and the wider economy.

Tough market conditions, including lower electricity output and a fall in day-ahead prices for gas production, have taken their toll on the bottom line, and we have had to report an exceptional item of ?645.3m related to gas storage, gas production and coal-fired plant.

The latter provides some context for our March decision to mothball one third of the withdrawal capacity at our gas storage facility in Atwick; and today's announcement that all remaining coal-fired capacity at Ferrybridge C power station will close by end of this financial year. The 48-year-old plant was forecast to lose ?100m over the next five years and tough conditions demand tough decisions. This one, however, was not arrived at lightly. SSE's employees and contractors, their families and the wider community around Ferrybridge will be affected, and our top priority is to support them through this difficult time and ensure there are a range of options available to them.

It is important to say that we are still committed to the Ferrybridge area. Our 300m multi-fuel plant is going through commissioning at the moment; and we have a second plant in the pipeline.

There are other positives too. Our gas-fired plant at Keadby is being brought out of deep mothball; we have continued to deliver high quality renewables projects to time and budget, including England's largest at Keadby - and ensured operational excellence after commissioning; have maintained good progress on the Beatrice offshore wind development; successfully bid for National Grid contracts for Peterhead whilst continuing to support the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS); and, of course, successfully delivered the new Great Island CCGT in County Wexford, a fantastic achievement.

This gives us plenty to build on this coming year and beyond. The difficult but necessary decisions we have taken are a measure of the challenges we have faced over the past year. but will leave our Wholesale business in a stronger position to respond to future challenges, and take advantage of future opportunities.

Much of the future direction of travel will, of course, be set by governments and regulators. We will therefore continue to engage constructively with all of them as they seek to deliver existing, and new, objectives for the industry and the wider economy.