Perth energy firm SSE ties up Northern Ireland deal
Energy firm SSE has completed the purchase of a major natural gas supplier in Northern Ireland.
Perth-based SSE said the Irish Competition Authority had approved a deal announced last month to buy Phoenix Supply Ltd.
The acquisition was made through SSE's wholly-owned subsidiary Airtricity Energy Supply (Northern Ireland) Ltd.
SSE also acquired Phoenix Energy Ltd, which supplies gas in the Republic of Ireland.
Phoenix Supply is a regulated supplier of natural gas to 130,000 customers in Northern Ireland.
SSE now provides energy and related services to about 20% of the total energy market in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
SSE's generation and supply director, Alistair Phillips-Davies, said: "This acquisition is in keeping with our core purpose of providing our customers with the energy they need, and it marks a significant point for SSE as we become the first domestic dual fuel provider operating in both the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland markets."
Earlier this month, SSE agreed to buy four power stations and other Irish assets from Endesa in a deal worth a total of £390m.
Endesa is one of the largest utilities in Spain but is owned by an Italian group called Enel.
The Scottish firm said it would pay £256m for the assets and put in a further £134m which will be used, among other things, to finish construction on a plant at Great Ireland in Wexford.
It will also invest in a further large power generation facility at the site of the existing Tarbert plant in Kerry.