Airtricity owner SSE Ireland is considering lay-offs as the electricity and natural gas business bids to streamline operations that employ about 1,300 here.
Scottish utility SSE’s Irish operations generate and supply electricity, sell natural gas and are building offshore and onshore wind farms across Ireland as well as investing in other infrastructure.
The company confirmed that a review of these businesses could lead to job losses from some units, although it was not in a position to say how many or when it would announce cuts.
SSE Ireland is reviewing its operations to ensure the company continues operating “in the most efficient and effective way possible into the future”, a spokeswoman said.
“We have informed colleagues that this will unfortunately lead to reduced headcount in some parts of our business,” she confirmed.
“We understand this process will be difficult for our teams, and we’ll be keeping colleagues informed throughout.”
SSE Ireland did not comment beyond the statement.
The group is continuing to work on the review and it is understood it intends to communicate with staff when it is in a position to inform them about details specific to each arm of its business.
SSE’s statement did not say how many it employs here, but the group confirmed in a report late last year that the number was about 1,300 across the island of Ireland.
It has grown to be one of the biggest players in the Irish energy market since it bought local wind farm developer Airtricity in 2007.
Its best-known division, SSE Airtricity, supplies about 750,000 homes, businesses and other customers with electricity and natural gas.
The group owns onshore wind farms and, through subsidiary SSE Thermal, Great Island power station in Co Wexford, among various assets.
Its parent, London-listed SSE plc, ended its last financial year on March 31st.
It earned £714.5 million sterling (€834 million) profit before tax in the six months to the end of last September, 26 per cent more than during the same period in 2023.
This month SSE predicted that earnings per share in the financial year just ended would between 155 pence sterling and 160p.
It generated similar earnings in the 12 months ended March 31st, 2024, figures show.
SSE intends investing up to €2 billion in Ireland this decade, depending on conditions.
SSE Renewables is building the Arklow Bank Park 2 wind farm in the Irish Sea off Co Wicklow, which will generate up to 800 megawatts (MW) of electricity. It sought planning permission last year.
That business has partnerships with Bord na Móna to build onshore wind farms with a total capacity of 800MW.
It is also working with Coillte-ESB joint venture Futurenergy Ireland on several onshore wind farms around the Republic.
SSE Thermal is building two biofuel-fired power stations, in Tarbert, Co Kerry, and Platin, Co Meath.
Reports say it will be possible to convert those facilities to run on hydrogen in the future, once the infrastructure to provide the fuel is in place.
