SSE Renewables issued a warning to the UK Government yesterday on its planned revenue cap for green energy generators.
The leading developer and operator of renewable energy facilities says it has "huge ambitions" to accelerate deployment of homegrown electricity infrastructure to help strengthen Britain's energy security.
But Finlay McCutcheon, director of onshore Europe at SSE Renewables, said there needed to be a continuing supportive policy environment.
He added: "It's therefore important that, in implementing its planned revenue cap on generators, government gets the balance right between preventing excessive profits and retaining the attractiveness of the UK as a place to invest in order to keep the cost of capital down."
In recent days, green energy generators have highlighted a risk to £100billion of new investment following moves by Westminster to cap both consumer bills and generator earnings - as well as giving it new powers over the sector.
Bosses at green energy producers have told Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg that proposals contained in the Energy Prices Bill "threaten to undermine the long-established principle of strong, independent regulation of the energy sector".
Further expansion
Yesterday’s comments from SSE Renewables came as it announced further expansion of its onshore wind-development pipeline.
It is acquiring a 12-turbine, 49.9MW project in the Highlands.
The company has reached agreement with RES to acquire the Aberarder wind farm development at Strathnairn, near Inverness.
The project, which was granted planning consent in 2017, is adjacent to the operational 94MW Dunmaglass wind farm jointly owned by SSE Renewables and Greencoat UK Wind.
Construction of the new wind farm could start in April 2023 with completion by November 2024.
Aberarder will be capable of generating enough green energy to power almost 50,000 homes annually.
Onshore portfolio
Mr McCutcheon said: "SSE Renewables has an incredibly strong onshore operating portfolio of nearly 2GW, of which 1.2GW is in Scotland.
"We're also currently building what will be the UK's most powerful onshore wind farm, the 443MW Viking project in Shetland.
"Now, with the addition of the Aberarder wind farm project to our portfolio, we have strengthened our secured development pipeline of UK onshore wind projects to just over 1GW. The project also represents a strong strategic fit for our operational onshore wind portfolio given its location next to our Dunmaglass wind farm.
"We have huge ambitions to accelerate deployment of homegrown electricity infrastructure to help strengthen the UK's energy security, and Aberarder gives us another opportunity to do so.
"However, the extent to which we can deliver on these aims will depend on there being a continuing supportive policy environment.”