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Highlights
- UK’s Labour shadow Treasury minister, James Murray called on making energy bills VAT free to help people get through a difficult winter period.
- Drax group reported new targets for its pellet production and biomass sales.
- SSE and its JV partner Equinor reached a financial close on the third phase of the Dogger Bank wind project
The UK’s Labour shadow Treasury minister, James Murray, called on the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament in the UK, to reduce the VAT rate on domestic energy bills down to zero per cent.
According to some media reports, Murray stated that such a measure would help people survive low-level temperatures and high prices during the winter season.
The call came amid Members of Parliament (MPs) continuing their debate regarding the Finance (No.2) Bill. The aforementioned Bill enacts measures contained within the Budget.
The UK has been facing an energy crisis in past couple of month, caused by several factors, including higher demand, soaring energy prices, low levels of gas stockpiles and more.
This has caused several independent energy suppliers in the country to go bust.
In view of this, let us take a closer look at 2 FTSE listed gas and electricity stocks and explore their investment prospects:
- Drax Group PLC (LON: DRX)
Drax Group is a power generation company that aims to become carbon negative by 2030. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index.
The group specified new targets for its pellet production and biomass sales in its Capital Markets update. It expects to reach a biomass pellet production of 8 Mt per annum by 2030, compared to about 4 Mt that it produces at present.
The group aims to have biomass pellet sales (to third parties) target of 4Mt per annum by 2030, up from its current sales of about 2 Mt.
The group aims to invest about £3 billion as a strategic capital investment between 2022 and 2030 in various areas, including pellet production, UK’s bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and more.
Image source: Refinitiv
Drax Group’s shares ended at GBX 601.00, up sharply by 9.27 per cent on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 index, on the other hand, closed at 22,912.73, higher by 1.75 per cent.
The company’s market cap stood at £2,399.25 million, and its one-year return was at 81.79 per cent as of 1 December.
- SSE PLC (LON: SSE)
SSE is a multinational energy firm that is a part of the FTSE 100 index.
The group said today that it has reached a financial close, along with its joint venture partner Equinor, on the third phase of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm project located in the UK’s north east coast.
Both companies have already started construction on the first 2 phases of the Dogger Bank wind project.
The wind farm is expected to be the biggest wind farm in the world once it completes all three of its phases in March 2026.
The total investment in the Dogger Bank Wind Farm is anticipated to be around £9 billion, with Dogger Bank C, the third phase entailing £3 billion, including offshore transmission.
Image source: Refinitiv
SSE’s shares ended at GBX 1,583.00, higher by 2.00 per cent on 1 December. The FTSE 100 index, on the other hand, closed at 7,168.68, up by 1.55 per cent.
The company’s market cap stood at £ 16,869.93 million, and its one-year return was at 15.59 per cent as of 1 December.
