Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this virtual presentation of our 2021 results. Gregor, Martin, and I will summarize what has been a year of strong underlying performance, strategic delivery, and progress in creating a wealth of future growth opportunities. Thanks to the resilience of our business model, the quality of our assets, and the commitment of our employees, we have powered change effectively throughout the pandemic, and our strategy remains firmly on course. Firstly, our GBP 7.5 billion CapEx plan is well underway, with construction progressing on our flagship renewables projects. These include Seagreen, Viking, and the world's largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank. In fact, we're leading construction of more offshore wind than anyone else in the world right now. Secondly, our regulated businesses have continued to progress ambitious plans for the networks needed to reach net zero. Transmission's TotEx through RIIO-T2 is set to be around GBP 2.8 billion, including the Shetland HVDC link, and there's further growth potential in sight. While Distribution's ED2 draft plan to be submitted in July will include net zero-generated growth from well-evidenced stakeholder-led proposals. Thirdly, agreed transactions in our non-core disposals program are expected to yield over GBP 1.5 billion of proceeds, and this is set to exceed the GBP 2 billion target on completion of the prospective sale of SGN. Finally, we are developing further medium to long-term growth options in areas such as pumped hydro storage, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and batteries. We have a highly desirable pipeline in domestic U.K. and Irish waters, and we are establishing new partnership platforms internationally. This year also marked the end of an era with the retirement of our chair, Richard Gillingwater, who made a huge contribution to SSE's successful strategic realignment. He handed over to Sir John Manzoni in April, and we're already enjoying working with John, who brings his own energy, enthusiasm, and fresh insight to the job. Our priority throughout the pandemic has been continuing to support the safe and reliable supply of electricity. I'm very proud of the efforts of our frontline teams, who worked tirelessly through the year despite concerns over the virus and challenging weather. They embodied our purpose of providing energy needed today while building a better world of energy for tomorrow and ensure we played our part in the national pandemic effort. We did so without drawing on government support in the form of furlough or rates relief, and implemented a wide range of measures to provide flexible and safe working. Through all this, I'm delighted to say our safety performance remains strong, with 47 total recordable injuries down from 55 last year. Our disposals program has further sharpened the group's strategic focus on renewables and regulated electricity networks. These businesses are key to enabling a net zero economy, have significant growth potential, and importantly, they fit together. With common skills and capabilities in the development, construction, financing, and operation of world-class, highly technical electricity assets, we continue to see a strong strategic logic to them forming the low-carbon electricity core of SSE. The other businesses we retain are highly complementary to that core. Thermal, like hydro, provides flexibility to balance wind variability. We've seen the benefit of this in recent weeks. Longer term, Thermal can drive forward the carbon capture and storage and hydrogen solutions the country will need in the decades ahead. Our customer businesses provide a valuable route to market and help customers reduce emissions. Our distributed energy business within Enterprise gives us a foothold in a growth sector. An effective energy portfolio management business delivers commercial synergies and manages commodity risk across the group. Our business mix is very deliberate, highly effective, fully focused, well set to prosper on the journey to net zero and beyond. We are building a better world of energy for tomorrow. In May 2020, we published our Greenp rint of policy initiatives for building a cleaner, more resilient economy. A year on, we've seen the government policy landscape develop in line with this vision, reaffirming the opportunity we have to support delivery of increasingly ambitious targets on net zero. Our purpose is neatly aligned with societal ambitions on climate action, and the delivery of our planned investments will go a long way to decarbonizing the economy while meeting SSE's first financial objective of remunerating shareholders. In keeping with that, today, we are reiterating our commitment to delivering the five-year dividend plan to 2023. I'll now hand over to Gregor Alexander to cover performance. Thanks, Alistair, good morning, everyone. Underlying business performance was strong, and I'm pleased to say that there has been no material adverse impact from coronavirus on the financial performance of renewables, transmission, or thermal. As we have reported throughout the year, distribution, and in particular, Enterprise and business energy, had a more challenging period, but this has in no way slowed our strategic progress. The impact on the group, as recognized within the adjusted results, was around GBP 170 million at the lower end of the GBP 150 million-GBP 250 million range we highlighted in June 2020. In addition, we expect that GBP 34 million of the impact on distribution will be recovered in future periods. We have navigated the pandemic well, thanks in large part to the excellent efforts of our colleagues, with demand also holding up better than we had initially anticipated. While the longer-term economic implications of the pandemic remain uncertain. We expect the ongoing impact on SSE to be mainly limited to our customer-facing businesses and assumed within normal business performance. Coronavirus notwithstanding, we have delivered solid growth during the year, including adjusted operating profit slightly increasing to over GBP 1.5 billion, adjusted profit before tax increasing by 4% to GBP 1.1 billion, and a djusted EPS increasing by 5% to GBP 0.875. Disposals of non-core assets recognized within the reported metrics generated GBP 878 million of net gains during the year. Reported metrics also include GBP 645 million of positive mark-to-market movements on previously out of the money operating and financing derivatives held at the year-end. This significant movement demonstrates the volatility that can arise on revaluation of these forward contracts from period to period, which is unrelated to current operating performance, and therefore excluded from SSE's adjusted profit measures. As Alistair highlighted, we are simplifying the group to predominantly focus on our renewables and networks core. Since the start of 2021, agreed disposals of non-core businesses and assets are expected to yield over GBP 1.5 billion of net proceeds. With over GBP 1.4 billion received in cash to date, these disposals have contributed to the reduction in adjusted net debt. The GBP 878 million of net gains on disposals also demonstrates the value SSE can create. SGN is expected to be SSE's next material disposal. It has been a first-rate investment for the group, and the business is set to benefit from increased hydrogen usage. However, it is a financial investment run largely independently now, and the synergies with the low carbon electricity businesses are less clear. In light of market developments, and in consideration of the RIIO-T2 price control referral to the Competition and Markets Authority in March, we stated our intention to divest all of our equity stake in Scotia Gas Networks. We now expect to commence a formal sale process for SGN in midsummer, with the intention of having agreed sale by the end of the calendar year. We will update the market on progress in due course. Performance across the core business has been strong. In transmission, adjusted operating profit was broadly flat, as phasing of allowed revenue and increased connections were offset by increased operational costs and depreciation charges driven by significant capital investment in recent years. In distribution, a combination of lower demand due to coronavirus and an over-recovery position in the prior year led to a 25% reduction in adjusted operating profit. Around GBP 34 million of the impact in 2021 is expected to be recoverable in future years. Renewables saw an increase in adjusted operating profit of 29%, which included GBP 226 million of developer profits on sale of a 51% stake in Seagreen and a 10% stake in Dogger Bank A and B during the year. Excluding these, operating profit decreased by 7%, reflecting the shortfall renewables output of around 10% below prior year due to disposals and weather conditions. Together, these core businesses contributed over 90% of group adjusted EBIT in the year. Elsewhere, in our complementary businesses, Thermal demonstrated its value with strong operational performance combined with higher utilization to deliver system flexibility, as evidenced by a 50% increase in response contracted by National Grid to help balance the system throughout 2021. Business Energy was severely hit by reduced demand as well as higher levels of bad debt as a result of coronavirus. Electricity performed relatively well, despite an increase in non-commodity costs during the second half of the year. Energy Portfolio Management achieved a small adjusting operating profit, providing services across our energy businesses, and the contracting business to be sold to Aurelius was significantly impacted by a reduced order book and lower overall economic activity. There was a significant impact from exceptional items and remeasurements recognized within reported operating profit. In addition to the GBP 878 million of exceptional net gains realized from disposal of non-core assets and the GBP 600 million revaluation gains on commodities, there were further exceptional items recognized in totaling a net GBP 28 million loss. These included fair value uplifts on equity sales, true-up adjustments on prior year exceptional transactions, releases of unutilized provisions for coronavirus, and an impairment on Great Island. Our existing plan for GBP 7.5 billion of capital investment to March 2025 includes significant investment in SSEN's transmission network to connect renewable generation. Constructing with Equinor and Eni, the world's largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank, constructing with Total, Scotland's largest offshore wind farm at Seagreen, and on Shetland, constructing Viking, one of Europe's highest-yielding onshore wind farms. With lower-than-expected expenditure in 2021, we expect capital and investment expenditure to increase in 2021, 2022 to around GBP 2 billion. SSE remains committed to delivering its GBP 7.5 billion capital investment plan to 2025. Indeed, much of this is now committed. With strong additional opportunities beginning to emerge right across the Group, we expect to provide an update on our CapEx plans at our interims in November. This will include more detail on three significant transmission projects that Alistair will touch on briefly in a moment, and investment opportunities that we see potentially emerging for other parts of the Group. SSE's strong balance sheet is underpinned by high-quality assets, and following the success of the disposal program, adjusted net debt and hybrid capital reduced by GBP 1.6 billion to end the year at GBP 8.9 billion. We indicated in November that we are targeting a Net Debt to EBITDA ratio at the lower end of a 4.5x- 5x range between 2021, 2022 and 2024, 2025, and achieved this at 31 March 2021, when the ratio was 4.6x. Our S&P credit rating remains at BBB+ stable outlook, and our Moody's rating remains at Baa1, albeit on negative outlook. In the event of any downgrade, financing our current plans would be entirely manageable. Over the past year, we have reaffirmed our standing as the largest issuer of green bonds in the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100. In March, SSEN Transmission issued a new GBP 500 million green bond, our fourth in five years, and we also set out a new framework for issuing innovative sustainability-linked bonds in the future. This, together with over GBP 2 billion of Eurobonds and hybrid securities issued in the first half of the year, means we have good liquidity with GBP 1.5 billion of undrawn committed facilities and GBP 1.6 billion of cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2021. Our GBP 7.5 billion capital investment plan continues to be fully financeable, consistent with our Net Debt to EBITDA target, does not require any changes to our capital structure. Well-chosen partnering is now a key part of SSE's financial strategy. SSE is well-placed to manage development risk and can create value from selling down stakes to retain typically 30%-40% of a project and working with equity partners for construction or operation. This approach brings benefits, including securing developer premiums, reducing single project exposures, containing non-earning debt, brings in partners with different risk appetites at their preferred stage of the project cycle. Dogger Bank A and B stake sale showed the value SSE can create, bringing in just over GBP 200 million of cash proceeds and gains on sale. We expect to progress with the sale of a stake in Dogger Bank C during the first half of this financial year. We have been clear that we would also consider, in time, extending a partnering approach, potentially through sales of minority interest stakes in our electricity networks businesses. These are core businesses, and we will retain control, but minority partners remain an option should we consider that the released capital could facilitate growth opportunities in network businesses and elsewhere. At SSE, we have repeatedly demonstrated, through effective capital allocation and optimal capital recycling and partnering, that we can take advantages of the opportunities we consistently create. With this wealth of assets and options, we have every confidence in our ability to continue to do this. SSE's first financial objective is to remunerate shareholders through dividends, and we're recommending a full year 2021 dividend of GBP 0.81. This takes the total dividends declared to around GBP 14.75 per share since SSE's formation in 1998. SSE continues to target dividend increases in line with Retail Prices Index in the following two financial years, as set out in our 2023 dividend plan. Adjusted EPS for the full year is GBP 0.875, with reported EPS of GBP 2.157, reflecting the gains and disposal of non-core assets as well as the positive mark-to-market movements. Having weathered the pandemic, and with high-quality, net-zero-aligned assets and options, we see considerable potential for future growth over and above current plans. Looking ahead, we are clearly in a strong position to create lasting value for shareholders and to remunerate their investment with dividends going forward. I'll hand you back to Alistair Phillips-Davies. Thanks, Gregor. In December, we welcomed the Prime Minister to Blyth, where we were testing blades for Dogger Bank. The U.K. government's 10-point plan, its energy white paper, and its new, more ambitious 78% carbon reduction target for 2035 all show how net zero will shape the U.K. policy landscape for years to come. The Irish Climate Action Plan is doing the same in Ireland. All around the world, opportunities are being created for companies like SSE, which have the right capabilities in developing low-carbon infrastructure. We have the wind in our sails. This strategic alignment is not an accident. We have, quite deliberately and over many years, recalibrated our business to focus on tackling climate change. Renewables are at the center of every projection, with a trebling of U.K. capacity widely expected by 2050. Clearly, we're a leader in that field, leading development of more offshore wind than anyone else in the world right now and seeking to diversify our pipeline internationally. Smart grids at the transmission and distribution level will connect renewables and accommodate the electrification of heat, transport, and other sectors. The Committee on Climate Change believes this could double U.K. electricity demand by 2050, and with the production of green hydrogen on top of this, they predict it could triple it. CCS, hydrogen, batteries, storage, and floating offshore wind are all seen as having key roles to play in the technology mix in any credible net zero power system. The opportunities for SSE with our clear strategic focus on electricity and net zero, alongside our sustainable business model and our presence across key parts of the value chain, are simply immense. SSE understood the economic opportunity associated with social and environmental sustainability long before the notion of Environmental, Social and Governance took hold. Our strategy deliberately seeks to create value for both shareholders and society because our long-term success is secure if anchored in the public interest. Using the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we have four 2030 business goals aligned to them, which were set in 2019, and we are progressing well against them. We were invited to be a lead sponsor of COP 26, in part because of our well-established ESG credentials, and this year we signed up to the Race to Zero campaign and set targets aligned to the 2015 Paris Agreement, validated by the Science Based Target initiative, which gives a verifiable line of sight towards a well below two degree trajectory. SSE believes the S in ESG is important, too. Our Just Transition Strategy, the first of its kind by a corporate, recognizes that social consequences of net zero could risk the public mandate to tackle climate change. SSE's continued championing of fair tax, a real living wage, and green job creation is integral to a Just Transition. SSE welcomes engagement with the ESG community as we continue to evolve our policies, practice, and performance. Ultimately, in clean energy, there are a wealth of opportunities, and I'll now hand over to Martin Pibworth to cover those in the energy businesses. Thanks, Alistair. We are currently building almost four gigawatts of wind capacity, and it is worth spending a moment on these ongoing construction projects. At 1,075 MW, Seagreen will have a load factor of 54%, producing around 5 TWh a year. We are on track to commence offshore substation platform and foundation installations in Q3 2021, with first power expected early next year and full power targeted at the end of 2022. Of course, with 58% of its capacity not currently attached to a CFD, there is the potential for Seagreen to compete in December for the uncontracted part of the project. We have Seagreen 1A situated adjacently, which will benefit from synergies and shows our ability to find extensions to key developments. Design and development work on Seagreen 1A is ongoing, which will inform the JV decision whether to bid it into AR4. On Dogger Bank A and B, onshore construction is going well. We expect to start offshore construction on A in one year's time, aiming for first power in summer 2023 and full power in spring 2024. Delivery of Dogger Bank B follows one year later. SSE is creating value well before first power. The total consideration of GBP 206.3 million for 10% of Dogger Bank A and B clearly created value for shareholders. There is more to come. The third phase is being developed, and we hope to reach financial close and progress a stake sale later this calendar year. The Dogger Bank projects will cumulatively contribute around 18 TWh of additional renewable output to the U.K. electricity system annually. They will create hundreds of direct jobs and thousands more in the supply chain, and we were delighted that on the strength of orders from Dogger Bank, and with our support and efforts, General Electric were able to commit to investing in a new blade manufacturing facility in Teesside. Viking, at 443 MW, with a load factor of 48%, will be among the highest yielding onshore wind farms in Europe, producing almost 2 TWh annually. Construction is progressing well, with work on the direct current substation starting this summer, turbines in early 2023, and completion planned for autumn 2024. The wind farm has the option to enter AR4 later this year, but as with Seagreen, is not dependent on this. Elsewhere onshore, we've started building Lenalea in Ireland and have achieved first power at Gordonbush Extension, an incredible achievement by the delivery team during the pandemic and challenging Scottish winter weather. It shows again the strength of our capabilities in major project delivery. Beyond these flagship projects, we have a healthy pipeline and a renewable output target of 30 TWh a year by 2030, which we expect to exceed. Delivering our current pipeline alone is set to add, on average, over 500 MW of renewables capacity each year to 2030. With the opportunity to add to our pipeline through ScotWind, alongside the work we're doing to identify opportunities internationally, we have clear aspirations to reach a run rate of at least one gigawatts of new assets a year during the second half of this decade. Turning to onshore, we have identified a further 10 new early developments totaling over 500 MW in the last year. Seabed auction prices were at a premium in the recent English Crown Estate process. Only time will tell whether those projects will be economic, but we retained our capital discipline, and the prices paid by others underline the quality of our own pipeline. Crudely applying the average winning option fee to our existing U.K. seabed pipeline would value it at GBP 3.5 billion. Today, we already have an enviable range of seabed options, all of which are likely to be needed if the U.K. is to meet its targets, with potential to add to it. The ScotWind process, which has capped lease fees, will help ensure Scottish projects remain competitive, minimizing costs and placing greater emphasis on developers' credentials. Our partners are Marubeni, who have deployed floating technology in similar sea conditions at their Fukushima FORWARD project, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, CIP, who worked with us on Beatrice. With the U.K. targeting one gigawatt of floating wind by 2030, the technology is clearly an area of interest. Opportunities could come from the ScotWind process and the recent announcements of a new Crown Estate leasing round. The policy environment in Ireland is also highly conducive to renewables, albeit on a smaller scale. The updated Climate Action Plan proposes a doubling of onshore capacity to eight gigawatts and an offshore wind ambition of five gigawatts by 2030. This will be needed to deliver on the commitments in the Climate Action Bill to halve emissions by 2030. We were successful in the first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme auction last year, and with the first offshore auction to be scheduled in 2022, we are well-placed with our Arklow Bank project. Arklow is 520 MW and our most advanced project, but it is not our only one. We have early-stage options at Braymore Point and our Celtic Sea Array site. As in the U.K., we believe that increasingly ambitious targets mean all of these projects will need to be built in due course. We will always have a U.K. and Irish core, but a more internationally diverse pipeline can unlock further renewables growth. We are primarily interested in offshore and onshore wind, where we are well-placed to export our capabilities, working with local partners in growth markets. We are partnering with ACCIONA, a leading Spanish renewable energy company, to form a 50/50 JV to enter the emerging Iberian offshore wind markets. These markets will not reach the size of the North Sea, but over the longer term are clearly interesting. Meanwhile, we are also partnering with CIP once again and Danish energy company Andel on the tender process in Denmark to develop the 800 MW- 1,000 MW Thor wind farm off the country's west coast. These are initial steps taken with partners who have the local knowledge that complements our developer expertise, and there will be more to come. Northwest Europe and North America have wind potential onshore and offshore, whilst Japanese offshore wind is of interest, too. Whilst we see plenty of opportunity, as ever, a measured approach with capital discipline will guide our decisions. We showed you this slide before, and it brings together our offshore wind pipeline, which could be delivered before 2030. It shows the wealth of our deliverable options this decade, with work ongoing to expand the portfolio beyond this. Of course, with major projects like these, timescales will change in line with a range of factors, but their ultimate delivery will be key in meeting offshore wind targets set by governments in the U.K., Ireland, and beyond. It is a strong pipeline, which will create a lot of value for shareholders and wider society. We were operating hydro long before people knew what climate change was. Today, our 78 hydro stations in Scotland provide clean, flexible power that is critical to the system, and their performance in the balancing markets this year was very strong, and we continue to make incremental investments to continuously improve performance. We anticipate that hydro will continue to be remunerated for its flexibility and also, alongside our wind business, will benefit from a strong and upward trajectory of carbon prices. Hydro is part of our heritage but also our future, as demonstrated by its GBP 269.3 million EBITDA contribution in the last year. The importance of flexibility will only increase in a renewables-led electricity system, and in hydro pump storage, we have nature's battery. Lithium-ion batteries, which we are exploring on the SSE estate and potentially beyond, can offer local flexibility by generating for up to four hours. Coire Glas offers greater potential. Imperial College London has estimated that the equivalent of three Coire Glas schemes, 4.5 GW, would save up to GBP 690 million per year in system costs by 2050, and there are 4.8 GW of projects across the U.K. Coire Glas could be the U.K.'s largest pumped hydro storage project and the first built in over 30 years. Located in the Highlands, the consented 1.5 GW project would have 30 GWh of storage, more than doubling existing U.K. capacity. It could power 3 million households for not four but 24 hours. Construction would take around five years at an estimated GBP 1.2 billion-GBP 1.5 billion, its life would exceed 40 years. The system benefits are huge and include reducing wind curtailment and helping accommodate more wind on the system, maintaining grid stability, and displacing fossil plants. To progress through investment, it does not need subsidy, rather a revenue stabilization mechanism such as that used for interconnectors, we are urging government to show leadership ahead of COP 26 by facilitating the policy reform needed. All credible pathways show that unabated thermal generation has an important transitional balancing role to play in ensuring security of supply whilst the U.K. decarbonizes. This is underlined by the fact that in 2021, our fleet saw a 50% increase in response contracted by National Grid to help balance the system. We've also seen spark spreads trend to more attractive levels. However, we are in no doubt about the need to decarbonize and repurpose our fleet to the net zero world. While some companies simply choose to sell up, that does nothing to address the underlying challenge of finding low-carbon ways to generate electricity flexibly, nor does it help any Just Transition socially, and we are making progress. In 2021, our thermal plant emissions were at their lowest level since records began in 2001, and in this morning's statements, we show we are well on the way with our key science-based targets. Our new highly efficient Keadby 2 CCGT will displace less efficient generating plants on the system, and in terms of SSE's older plants, with the exception of Keadby 2, our JVs at Marchwood and Seabank, and Great Island in Ireland, we cannot envisage any of our thermal plants running into the 2030s unabated. Despite year-to-year variability, we expect to meet comfortably our absolute emissions and carbon intensity targets by 2030 at the latest. Meanwhile, our partnership with Equinor to develop plans for a number of first-of-a-kind low-carbon power stations in the U.K.'s Humber region, as well as at Peterhead, could see us build the U.K.'s first power station with CCS and the world's first 100% hydrogen-fueled power station. With strong government support and well-located existing assets alongside a strong carbon pricing backdrop, there are clear tailwinds for our future low-carbon thermal portfolio. I'll now hand back to Alistair. Thanks, Martin. With a wealth of renewable resources in the north of Scotland, transmission has a vital role to play in transporting the electricity to demand centers further south. Its RIIO-T2 business plan, A Network for Net Zero, reached a final settlement of nearly GBP 2.2 billion of approved investment in making the network fit for the future. While the bulk of the price control settlement matched our own and our stakeholders' ambition, which we're now focused on delivering, the financial parameters did not. Our appeal, echoed by the rest of the industry now progressing with the CMA, is technical in nature. It centers on the cost of equity, which does not reflect market conditions, and the flawed outperformance wedge, as well as exposure to under-recovery of tenures and loss of appeal rights. While customer bills must be minimized, appealing is the right thing to do. Our relationship with Ofgem remains constructive and is not preventing us from delivering our stakeholder-led plan. In addition to the baseline settlement, Ofgem has also approved the Shetland HVDC link, which could see over GBP 650 million of TotEx spent to connect generation and secure Shetland supply. Construction has begun, the project remains on track for completion in 2024. Shetland plus our baseline spend gives us a certain view of expenditure across T2 at around GBP 2.8 billion, and this would take transmission RAV to above GBP 5 billion by financial year 2026. All expenditure expected under our certain view is consistent with SSE's existing GBP 7.5 billion CapEx plan. Growing a network to meet Net Zero will require investment over and above the baseline settlement, and this is reflected in Ofgem's use of uncertainty mechanisms. The extent of the additional projects approved by Ofgem remains to be seen, but we believe the case for greater ambition is strong. We'll be seeking to use the new mechanisms this year. Taking increased Scottish wind capacity south involves progressing the proposed East Coast HVDC link from Peterhead to the northeast of England to meet a 2029 energization date, and we welcome Ofgem's recognition of the need for this investment in a consultation published earlier this month. Capacity reinforcements in Argyll to 275 kV, as well as replacing the Fort Augustus to Skye line are also planned, with initial needs cases for both projects due to be submitted to Ofgem this year. Further investments to connect renewable generation through the volume driver uncertainty mechanism are also likely. Taken together, we would see additional TotEx over the RIIO-T2 period of more than GBP 1 billion, potentially taking total spend to over GBP 4 billion and regulated assessment value to in excess of GBP 6 billion by 2026. This is an uncertain view, with investments remaining subject to a range of factors, including generator commitment, planning, and of course, Ofgem. Our assessment of the likelihood and cost of these additional projects is likely to form part of our update to CapEx plans in November. Much of what I've outlined is likely to cut across T2 and T3, but there could be further investment needed. ScotWind, for example, is expected to unlock up to 10 GW of new wind, meaning further system upgrades and a likely second HVDC link from Peterhead to England, and SSEN Transmission continues to work with stakeholders on proposals for mainland connections to the Western Isles and Orkney. We can see a clear path to a near trebling of connected capacity from 8 GW today to 22 GW by 2030. Electric vehicles and electric heat demand will increase dramatically over the coming years in line with government policy. Working with consultants Regen and local stakeholders, we have projections showing a potential in-area increase of electric vehicles and heat pumps from around 30,000 each today to 5 million and 2.5 million respectively by 2050. ED2 will be a critical price control in driving net zero delivery. We are currently finalizing the business plan we have co-created with our stakeholders and customers. It is an ambitious but robust plan that will deliver a local and inclusive transition to net zero by prioritizing strategic investment to create the safe, resilient, and responsive network that our customers need, providing a trusted service for our customers and communities to empower them with innovative solutions, and support and collaboration to create smart, flexible, local energy networks. We expect an increase in investment on ED1 rates to keep pace with net zero. There will be an uplift in load expenditure to ensure local networks are not constraining net zero, and an increase in non-load and support costs to create a resilient foundation. To recap, today's results show how much has been achieved by SSE in the face of a global pandemic, and how much potential the group has for growth and value creation. Our strategy is well-aligned to political, economic, societal, and environmental priorities, and increasing the targeted mix of low-carbon electricity assets and infrastructure businesses. We have an enviable and increasingly valuable renewables pipeline, which we're holding and building and diversifying. Transmission, distribution, and thermal are also all poised to provide further material growth opportunities. We have delivered on our financial commitments and created value in our disposal program. Financially, we have headroom and an asset and development portfolio that provides additional funding power to grow the business further. At SSE, we are powering change. Thank you. We'll take questions now, and I'll therefore hand us back to the operator. Sharon, please. Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one on your telephone. To withdraw your question, press the pound hash key. Your first question today comes from the line of Ajay Patel, Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Good morning, and thank you for the presentation. It's appreciated. I've got three questions, please. The first one is on raw material costs. We've seen quite substantial increases. Could you walk us through what exposures are hedged at and when, and where the exposures may lie? Just to understand better how that process works from the point at which you get an auction win to actually final investment decision. Does that impact the returns of Dogger Bank C at all? Secondly, just on the balance sheet, huge amounts of opportunity here, clearly, in what you've highlighted in the presentation. Also, just changes that happened in the earlier seabed auction, in regards to the fees and the requirements that has. Does that change how you maybe look at leverage and what kind of capital you need for investment? When do we have better clarity of how you fund that investment opportunity that you see ahead of you? Will that all come in the capital update later in the year, or do we wait later for that? Finally, just very specifically, when do we hear about your dividend policy beyond 2023? At least by [audio ditortion], we would have a view here, and that would be really helpful. Thank you. Okay. Thanks very much, Ajay. Martin will probably cover the bulk of material cost increases and Dogger Bank C. I think we've got well-worn routes to all that. Look, I'll do dividend quickly and a little bit of balance sheet, and then Gregor can maybe fill some of that in as well. Because that second question was quite a long one. We might all have a crack at that one, actually. Cool. Right. Dividend. Look, I think the key thing to know about dividend is that the policy stands through until 2023. We intend giving an update on the future of our dividend policy within the next 12 months. I think the other thing that you need to know, and hopefully people realize is, we understand that dividends are important, and we are very committed to remunerating shareholders with dividends. I think you'll see a clear update on that over the next 12 months. Going back to seabed auctions and leverage and things like that, I suppose just at a high level, we're very clear that we've got the GBP 7.5 billion plan. We can run through in a bit more detail. If you want, Gregor can maybe do that, what additional things may be facing us over the course of the summer. We're very clear that we can fund all the things that we've got at the moment. We have a very strong asset base and the opportunity to recycle capital from it if additional opportunities come our way. As you'll have seen throughout the presentation, there are a number of those opportunities there. Gregor, slightly long, complicated question, but do you want to. No. Ajay, you know my view on this. I've been in this job a long time. Having opportunities and options is a great position for utilities to be in. SSE is one of those companies that has shown that we're really progressive in how we partner and how we recycle capital into value-enhancing opportunities. I think, we will update the market in November on that CapEx plan, which could include some of the transmission spend, which Alistair talked about, some renewable opportunities. Clearly, if we could get the U.K. government forward on pump storage, Coire Glas could be part of that, and that'd be really exciting for us. We will give details to market how we would fund that. I'm very optimistic that we have the capability to do that through a mixture of recycling capital and partnering, as we've always said, and we're confident in that. Morning, Ajay. Just on your question on Dogger Bank C. I think we're well used to building out big complicated projects, and we are well used to projects having ups and downs, and obviously, raw material costs have for now gone up. Equally, so has the value of sterling, so has the value of carbon, so has Consumer Prices Index, Retail Prices Index, et cetera. There's ups and downs in projects, of course there are, but we don't have any exposure for projects which we're currently in construction. Okay. Great. Thank you. Sorry. Just to be clear on that, just on that last part. You said you have no exposure on assets under construction. Does that mean you do have exposure on Dogger Bank C because it hasn't had final investment decision? To be clear, Dogger Bank C will be facing into a higher raw materials context, but also will be facing into a strong Sterling outlook and other things that are pretty positive for including carbon prices or commissioning loads. There's always ups and downs. These things, obviously, prices move all the time, and all that will be dealt with as we go through it. To answer your question, existing projects are all locked in. Dogger Bank C will have a lot of it locked in. Not everything is locked in, but as Martin said, there are ups and downs within Dogger Bank C. That's, I think, within what we normally see within projects. I understand the question because we're in a bit of a super cycle or some sort of cycle. There are ups and downs there, and some things we're benefiting from and some things we're not. We don't have any current concerns about that. Okay. Very clear. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks, Ajay. Sharon. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Martin Young from Investec. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Yeah, good morning to everybody. Hope everybody is well. I have actually three quick questions. The first is on the hedging policy. I note that you've alluded to a little bit of a tweak in relation to your view on how capture prices might turn out. I wondered if you could just give a little bit more explanation on what you are endeavoring to do there and what the benefit might be of that slight change. The second question relates to the upcoming ED2 business plan. If I look at the CMA's report decisions on PR19, very clear message coming from that about positioning the cost of equity to incentivize the construction of network assets, particularly where resilience is required. I think if there's ever a network sub-sector that needs investment, that is electricity distribution, given that everything's coming down the line. Would you be looking for a cost of equity there that is higher than wherever the CMA might turn in the transition appeals process? Then the final question on distribution relating to the over and under recoveries. The over recovery that you alluded to in FY 2020, should we be thinking about that being given back in FY 2022? Thanks a lot. Okay, that's fine. We'll let Martin start on hedging policy, and then Gregor and I will deal with the ED2 and the over and under recovery piece. Yeah. Good morning. Just on hedging, they're really quite small refinements which really take account of observations we're seeing in the market right now. Obviously, the last few months have been reasonably volatile in terms of power prices, and we've just adjusted our hedging policies right across the different wind potential thermal exposures that we have. Probably worth pointing out that we've consistently said that we have a well-balanced portfolio and that thermal flexibility and hydro flexibility are seen as valuable defenses against wind intermittency and some of those exposures and variabilities that arise in markets that are transitioning. That is obviously still something that we firmly stand by. Really, these are relatively small refinements and pretty consistent with how we've established hedge policies in the past. Just on the ED2 business plans, obviously due to come out and be published on the 1st, or as I mentioned, on the 1st of July. That will just be in draft form, the real thing's coming in December. I think we've been pretty clear, as have the rest of the industry in gas and transmission, that we don't think Ofgem's proposals for financing of the industry are right, that's obviously at the CMA at the moment, so we'll leave that decision to run through. I think the underlying principle is that net zero is a huge challenge and far bigger challenge than I think the water industry are facing at the moment, to be honest, meaning that we see a clear case for getting at least what PR19 is suggesting or what the CMA suggested for the water industry, plus a premium for the additional risks and issues associated with that build-out. Where we've seen government, for instance, on broadband, look to incentivize the rollout of broadband in a different way, we would expect that to happen. Transmission and distribution are very different in various ways, but both have, particularly for us, similar challenges in the scale of investment that's required. I do think distribution, bringing net zero to consumers' homes and helping them decarbonize heat and power, giving them real assistance in doing that, will be a very substantial challenge. I think our plan will step up to meet that. I think equally, Ofgem will need to step up to giving a reasonable return to make sure that the huge investments that will be required for the decade-plus to come are attractive to international investors. Then finally, I think, the over and under recovery, I'm going to defer to Gregor, because I think he's more likely to know that than I am. I'll confess I don't. Yeah. The GBP 37 million over recovery, there's a two-year gap, so that will be adjusted for in 2021, 2022. You're right there, Ajay. Okay. Thank you. Sorry, Martin. Sorry, Martin. Thank you. All right. Good. Thank you, Sharon. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Mark Freshney from Credit Suisse. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Hello. Thank you for taking my questions. I have three. Firstly, on the other cost line within the P&L. Normally, it's about GBP 10 million of cost a year. It's very low. It's jumped up to GBP 60 million or thereabout this year. I understand there are issues with how capital gains and allocation of costs to businesses are accounted for. Perhaps, Gregor, you could run through that. Secondly, for Martin, on capital discipline. Everyone who wins a project in offshore will tell you that they're being disciplined, but there's clearly some doubt on that within the industry over the last year. Practically, when you go into projects and tender for the contracts, how can we be sure you're disciplined, and what internal processes do you go through? Thirdly, one for Gregor on the network side. We've spoken about the commodity costs within or indexation of turbine supply agreements and cable agreements, et cetera. When it comes to the regulated network side, there's a lot of steel and concrete and copper that goes into your networks there. What are you seeing there on the input side, and is that something that is easy to mitigate? Thank you. Okay. Gregor. Do you want to just start? There you go. Do you want? I'll try and take the capital discipline question. Mark, what can I say about this? I think we've exerted capital discipline in the past. We weren't successful in the last seabed auction. We have highly experienced teams. We've been in offshore for many years and seen probably the risks and also the upsides and the ups and downs we talked about in terms of projects. Worth pointing out that I don't think we necessarily see an offshore project as just a kind of consent and develop and build. It's a consent, develop, engineer, build, operate, trade, take out, and look after, mitigate the imbalance, risk, et cetera. It's right across the piece. We have long-established skill and expertise in that, which is all highly considered when we are considering how to enter new development opportunities. I'm pretty confident our record in this space is very strong. Mark, in terms of the corporate unallocated, there are a number of things in there, but the key two issues I can comment about would be, one, how we deal with the transitional services agreement with OVO. These transition down, and over time, they've come down to about 50% of that increase relates to us absorbing more standing costs. That's just natural. As a public limited company, we've got central costs that got smeared across a wider part of the group. Last year or 2019, 2020, we benefited in there from provision release. Ongoing, we'd expect that number actually to be moving up and adjusted for any efficiencies that come through in the corporate business. In terms of commodity cost, there's indexation, as you know, and indices that are used within the networks businesses. That is something that we call. They're not exact hedges. At the moment, we're not seeing significant pressure coming through. Clearly, if commodity prices move up, we'll see that there may be a bit of a lag effect in terms of how we recover that. Okay. Mark, look, I think you've got a similar team here to the one you've had for a long time in terms of discipline as well. We continue to strengthen our processes. Gregor's doing yet more work on SOX Lite and things like the BEIS report. We had some pretty good and robust discussions at the board there about how we're going to respond to all that. I think you can be assured that if anything, we'll be doing more work on strengthening processes. You've got a set of people here who've got a similar mindset, and we're very focused on value and driving value for shareholders. Hopefully that will give people some comfort. Thank you very much. Thank you. Sharon. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of James Brand, Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Good morning. Thanks for the presentation. Two questions from me, both on networks. The first is on electricity distribution. You mentioned the massive increase in heat and EV-related power demands, and that the new price control period would include more, at least your business plan would include more load-related expenditure. I was just wondering, there's some theories out there that associated with all this massive increase in domestic demand that utilities might have to go around and just replace pretty much the entire electricity distribution network to have bigger cables. I was just wondering, given that you're quite advanced now in your plan, whether you had any thoughts on that, whether you agreed that that was needed, and if so, whether that needed to start as you hinted load-related expenditure would need to ramp up in this price control period. If it's needed, whether it would be needed to start pretty soon. The second question is just on transmission and the guidance you've given around RAV growth. I was wondering how direct procurement fitted into that because there was a lot of confidence there around lots of growth coming through. Direct procurement is something that's been talked about for a long time and has never really gone anywhere as of yet. Obviously, requires some enabling from legislation from government. Do you think direct procurement is something that's going to happen? If it does, whether that would affect your RAV growth targets? Thank you. Hey, look, on electricity distribution our plan's going to come out in July. I don't want to give too much away at the moment. There is no doubt that we will need to do work on load-related work. I think we need to start that in that 2023 to 2028 period. That will be critical. I think, don't underestimate the fact that we can sweat these assets. We'll be looking for a lot of innovative ways to sweat these assets. We'll also be looking to focus on areas where that load growth is going to tip things like substations and/or particular cables or lines into positions where they're potentially overloaded and focus on that. It is definitely a long-term game as well. We're not going to have to go rip all the wires out from the ground immediately and change all that. We do have to start some reasonably significant investment, given what we are seeing in front of us. I think if you wait till July, we'll be able to set that out, which is why we've not said as much as we might normally do about distribution this morning. On T guidance, when you say direct procurement, I think you're talking about what we would describe as competition or competition proxy models and things of that nature. Essentially, that seems to have gone somewhat on the back burner. I think the challenges facing transmission businesses are such that there's clear existing frameworks that work well. We've seen cost of capital and things like that coming down and cost to consumers not rising very much at all. I think actually the real focus over the next few years is going to be on delivering on what we need to get the journey Net Zero started. I think also more generally in the T sector, I think the consultation around electricity system operator is more likely to be the place where people are focusing. I think that will take three or four years if people indeed decide to go ahead on that. I don't see any significant impact from direct procurement or competition coming into the sector during the course of this next price control, which is why we're reasonably confident with the numbers that we gave out and a possible forecast for additional RAV growth coming from the various additional projects that we mentioned in the presentation. Thank you very much. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of John Musk, RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Yes. Good morning, everyone. Two questions from me. Firstly, on the network disposals or potentially future network disposals in transmission and electricity distribution. You sort of announced that that might be something that will happen in the future at the same time as you've re-emphasized some of your growth opportunities. I'm just wondering are those two linked and it's all about capital recycling rather than something that you may have done just to create shareholder value if the price was right? Then secondly, I know it's normal, but you haven't provided any earnings guidance at this stage. We lost John. I heard earnings guidance. [audio ditortion] We've lost you, John. As well. Is there anything you can give us on earnings for FY 2022? John, unfortunately, we lost most of that, but we did hear earnings guidance and then the bit at the end, we lost about 10 or 15 seconds in the middle. If your question is, can we give you any more on earnings guidance? We're clear. If there's anything you want to add, please do. Then Greg will have a go at both those. Yeah, on earnings. We know COVID is coming out of the numbers. We know there were gains in the last year, but essentially it's a pretty predictable business. Just wondering why you don't provide any guidance. John, you've been following us for as long as I've been in this job, I think. You know we barely give guidance at the start of the year. I know it's the trend that a lot of the European companies like to give it. I think their businesses are even more predictable in some respects. We usually give guidance a bit later in the year. What I can say is our Networks businesses will see distribution showing a rebound from obviously the impact of COVID for 2021. You'll see good growth coming through the Transmission business from the price control. I think most analysts have that in their models. We will give guidance later in the year, as you would expect. On the Networks disposals, we've talked about this for a number of years. I've particularly talked about assets giving us value for future. We'll consider it if the growth opportunities are such that recycling capital is in the interest of the business and shareholders. We formalized that a bit last year in June when we commented on it, and we're just continuing to have that as a potential lever. We would always be looking at minority interest where it would be SSE having control on strategic and operational decisions for that business, and purely a financial player if we were doing that. We haven't taken any position on that, as you would expect. We're focusing on the SGN disposal. That's what the key focus is on. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Alexander Laing, UBS. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Hi, good morning. Just two questions from me, one short one. First, just on the SGN timing provided today, is it fair to infer that the relatively quick timeline you expect from formal commencement to completing the sale process might suggest initial interest has been quite good so far? Can you talk at all about maybe how the process so far compares to the last one a couple of years ago or a few years ago? On the other side, or one side, I guess the environment for disposals may be better and there's more awareness on potential hydrogen usage, but there's also been CO2 and investor focus on sustainability and decarbonization has got higher. Any thoughts you could share on that would be great. Just second, just briefly following up on your answer just now on the minority interest in the power networks. To confirm, would that be sort of capital recycling to fund better growth opportunities that you see in the networks, or is it to help split the bill for networks growth? Thank you. I'll let Greg comment on SGN. The minority interest sale is just there. As we've identified lots of opportunities to potentially spend more, invest more than our baseline GBP 7.5 billion CapEx plan at the moment. People are always keen to understand how we're going to do that, and we're just laying out a variety of options, and we're not discounting the option, particularly given the very substantial growth that we're expecting to see in Transmission of selling out a minority stake to a financial investor there. As Greg has said before, it's something that's been around for a long time. We obviously haven't done it in this round of disposals, but it could come back into our thinking at some point in the future. At the moment, we are more focused on getting over that GBP 2 billion target, which we're very confident of doing, and SGN's obviously the next one of those. Greg, perhaps you give a little bit on the [crosstalk]. Yeah. I'm not going to get into details of the process, we did appoint banks back in November. We have been working on this. We've got a good view of how we would take it forward. Clearly, we've got a CMA process that is happening and that means that it will have some impact in terms of timeline. The process will formally kind of stand midsummer. I think one of the things that I would say is that the focus on hydrogen and heat and the opportunities for hydrogen have had a lot more focus over the last year, in particular the last six months. I think that bodes well for disposal of the business or our equity stake. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Bartek Kubicki from Societe Generale. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. I would like to actually touch base three topics, please. Firstly, on the Round 4 of the renewables CFD auction, which is probably upcoming this year. Could you actually tell us your feelings about where the prices could move into? I mean, not of course the absolute level, but at least the direction. I guess it will decline. Speaking of that, to sort of capture your risk perception. If prices go down, will you still be willing to lock in Seagreen, the remaining 58% unsecured into lower prices to just sort of de-risk the project or it will be not of your interest? That will be the first thing. Secondly, if we look at Dogger Bank C and Dogger Bank B and A, where you will use 14 MW turbines and 13 MW turbines. Could you just tell us about the differences in terms of load factors and CapEx per megawatt, while using those? Actually, given that, whether using 14 MW turbines would actually positively impact the IRR of Dogger Bank C, so whether Dogger Bank C will have higher IRR than Dogger Bank B. Lastly, if we can maybe speak a little bit on your conventional generation business in 2021. Could you perhaps split the EBITDA into what was the impact of spreads, what was the impact of capacity market revenues, and what was the impact of other system revenues, and what is the sustainability of those going forward, please? Thank you. Okay. I suspect the last one, unless Martin's going to have a long time, we'll probably come back to you offline just on going through some of that one. Martin can maybe give some comments. Round 4, I'm sure Martin's eager to comment, I think ultimately, as an industry, we're all interested in driving the prices down because it drives the price down to consumers. Obviously, the prices that we reached in the last round are well below current market prices. We heard earlier on this call, pressures on commodity prices as well, which are bound to play into AR4, just in terms of steel and copper and things of that nature. I think there's a lot of variables in there. I think we got to some great prices, ourselves and our partners, as the most successful bidders last time. Whether people will be higher or lower this time, who knows? We're certainly not going to disclose to you or anybody else in the market what our bidding strategy is in respect to those plants. The only thing is, we know that we've got great projects, we know that we've got excellent people, and we've got a track record of winning auctions. I think that'll dictate what we do. Beyond that, I think you're going to have to wait and see and form your own judgment on where commodity prices and other things, seabed costs and everything else are. Martin, maybe you want to have a go at Dogger Bank A, B, and C and then anything on conventional. Yeah, just on Dogger Bank A, B, and C. Clearly, bigger turbines, better load factors. 57% load factor is our expectation. If you think about how that compares to other offshore wind farms out there, obviously that's significantly higher. Obviously that's good for project economics, it's also good for looking after things like balancing risks. There's probably less balancing risk as a consequence, so that's all a positive. Just in terms of conventional, yeah, it's quite a complicated question to answer. The only thing I'd point out, probably alluded to this earlier, is that the conventional thermal fleet obviously did very well in the balancing mechanism. We saw the need for more balancing events, not least cold weather events in January probably certainly to the eye, but also offering balancing last summer against other system issues. The thermal fleet performed well. Our flexible renewables fleet also performed well against that. I think it, again, validates our view that sort of balanced portfolio flexibility to look after wind intermittency really does offer a stronger portfolio. Beyond the specifics, I think we'd have to take it offline. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Dominic Nash from Barclays. Please go ahead. Good morning, thank you for taking the questions. Sort of three for me, please. The first one going on offshore wind. Could you just give us some color on the ScotWind auction? Is it still happening this year? How many gigawatts in total you'd be bidding for in that? Secondly, I thought it was quite interesting. I went through your results. I found no reference whatsoever to the recent Scottish election. Any reference to referendums, independence, Scottish National Party. I'm not going to reverse the question around here because usually you're just going to go, "Well, what are the risks?" I want to go, what are the opportunities that you see to England and renewables to sourcing to England if Scotland were to go independent? I think the taxonomy rules would change on how you treat carbon emissions, et cetera. England's a captive market to Scottish renewables at the moment. Would that mean that you could use your Irish and maybe Scandinavian renewables to import to England rather than Scotland, give you opportunities? Following on from that, are you starting to see or should there fundamentally be a difference in the valuation of an offshore Scottish wind farm versus an English offshore wind farm? Then the final question I've got, and this is probably some feedback, and I'll be interested if anyone disagrees with me on this one as well. I get feedback from a lot of investors that your accounting is becoming increasingly difficult to follow. You quote proportionally EBITDA and EBIT. You now include developer gains on that which add significant volatility going forward. I don't see an underlying EBIT or EBITDA as Ofgem would report. You use consolidated CapEx and net debt in your numbers. On things like SGN, are they in or are they out on assets held for sale? Will you be coming up with a sort of a cleaner, sort of pure number? Like that GBP 7.5 billion CapEx number, I've got to be honest, I scratch my head at that. I don't actually know what that means. Is there any chance that you can come up with an underlying earnings, underlying EBIT, sort of a cleaner accounting going forward to help investors? Thank you. Okay. Well, look, on accounting, because I am an accountant, I think we do give very clear underlying numbers. There's a lot going on in our business, and I'll let Gregor deal with the details, but the CapEx is the CapEx that we put into these things. It's just as simple as that. The fact that there's project financing or somebody else owns a portion of them means that we might be building £10 billion worth of projects, but we're only putting a certain amount of money into them. We're very clear what we're putting in as cash, either to wholly owned assets or JVs and things of that nature. We have a very clear EBITDA, or I think we do, but maybe I'm too simplistic. Gregor, I'm sure we'll pick up on that. Can you see that the EBITDA includes the project finance that you quote, but your CapEx doesn't? Say that again. Sorry, I'm not sure we fully understand you. Say it again. We'll try and deal with it quickly now. We may need a wider conversation. We think we're reasonably clear, anyway. Right. What did you say was included in EBITDA and wasn't included in CapEx? I'm just saying is that CapEx and net debt that you quote are basically sort of equity, your consolidated numbers, but when you quote your underlying EBITDA and underlying operating profits proportionally consolidated. I realize that you're a complex company. I think on our EBITDA ratio, we're very clear. We don't take the EBITDA related to the debt that the venture is geared at. It's geared at 75%. 75% of that EBITDA is not taken into account in the ratio. That's what should matter. I think we're actually pretty clear on the numbers. There's a lot of moving parts, as Alistair said. You got to remember, we're in a IFRS world where reported EPS is 218, and our adjusted EPS is 87.5. It's just a complicated world, Dominic, and we should take offline where you've got concerns. I think we're pretty transparent in how we deal with it. There's a lot of detail that goes through, and I think we lay that out pretty well. You may not agree with all the adjustments. Well, that's something that you as an analyst can then adjust for. I think we've been pretty consistent over the years. Let's take that offline. I know we have this issue because, listen, reported earnings are going to become more volatile just because of the nature of how people are looking for us to account for things. Listen, we are keen to make sure that you and other readers of our accounts and/or our numbers understand what we're doing, and we think we have strong underlying performance. I'll deal with Scottish independence quickly, and then I'll let Martin deal with the offshore stuff. Look, I think that was quite a complicated one. We remain politically neutral. We're not going to take a view on whether there should be a referendum or not, and indeed what the result is going to be. I think the key things for us are that everybody we speak to, of whatever political persuasion, is pretty focused on wanting to see net zero, and therefore the assets that we're building across the U.K., Ireland, and further afield, but obviously particularly across the U.K., are wanted and welcomed by everybody. We think there'll be clear support mechanisms going forward for those. I think it's far too early to comment on the detail when it's not even clear when and/or if there will be another independence referendum, what the result is, and what the results of all that might be. I think differential pricing and things like that, I'm not seeing any of that right now. If there is anything in that, you'll see it when the results of the ScotWind come out. That's happening on the 16th of July, and the results will be out, I think, probably close to November. Martin will give you a better update on that. Yeah. There's obviously 10 GW on target lease, as Alistair's mentioned. I think what you're probably alluding to is the delay that occurred as a result of the Round 4 results caused a little bit of a delay, but that process is underway from July. There are 15 sites that are currently available. Obviously, we won't comment on our specific bids or anything we're thinking about. Just in terms of the more general criteria, it's a more qualitative process, clearly, including looking at project concepts, delivery plans, but also capability and experience. Obviously, we think we have very good pedigree in this space. Right. There wasn't anything else on offshore. Sorry, because there were quite a few things on offshore. I don't know whether that covers everything, Dominic. Sorry. Yeah, that does. Thank you very much. Okay, great. Thank you. Look, we'll be in touch about the transparency or otherwise of the numbers as well. Sharon. Thank you. Your next question comes from Deepa Venkateswaran from Bernstein. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Thank you so much. I think my two questions were, firstly, amongst investors, there's quite a lot of skepticism about renewable returns. In particular, would you be able to comment in the last six months, the cost of capital may have changed, but do you expect the spread on your cost of capital to have changed in the last six months, whether that's because of the entry of new oil majors, commodity inflation, lease inflation, or any of these factors? That's my first question. The second one is, obviously you've outlined a lot of opportunities in the U.K., whether that's renewables or in your networks. At the same time for the renewables business, you want to step outside, particularly, something like Japan, et cetera, I would have thought. Far maybe, far left or east or whichever way you want to say it. I'm just wondering, does it not make sense for you to focus on your home market rather than try and also expand, particularly really further afield? Thank you. Okay. Look, renewables returns, I think we're earning strong returns on our projects. I think that's demonstrated by our ability to recycle capital out of them, and we expect to be able to continue to do that. You've noted we've got a wealth of opportunities, whether that be existing seabed extensions and things of that nature that were put in place. I think the entry of the oil majors, that's obviously going to be good for consumers. It's going to keep costs down. It's also going to make sure that the industry's probably got enough capital to build out the enormous amounts of plant that I think will ultimately be required. I think your last six months question, I don't necessarily see any of our returns dropping. I think the interesting thing for us, and possibly for ScotWind, would be that given the high prices paid for the seabed down south to try and hit the 40 GW target and then go beyond that, those bits of seabed won most recently down in the U.K. have clearly got some significant additional costs, which are going to allow Scotland, with its slightly higher transmission costs, to compete very well. I think it plays absolutely into things like Marr Bank, Berwick Bank, Seagreen 1A, and things like that being far more competitive in future rounds for offshore. I don't see anything particularly impacting our returns at the moment. We always worry about competitors, but hey, that's what keeps us sharp and keeps us going, basically. In terms of the opportunities, yes, we have a wealth of opportunities, but at the moment, as we stand, we're a business which has huge capabilities. Our ambition and our desire to build out more renewables will be bigger than the markets that we think we're in currently in the U.K. and Ireland, and we have a lot of partners who want to work with us in other geographies. You mentioned Japan. Japan's got similar characteristics to Scotland. In terms of water, it's generally deep. It's generally looking at floating. Once the U.K. goes beyond 50 GW in the North Sea, you're going to need to do quite a lot of floating. There are specific targets to get to 75 GW and plus, so therefore floating is going to be important here. We've obviously got a Japanese partner with us in ScotWind, and it looks an interesting market. A number of our other competitors have gone there, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do the same, particularly while we continue to be able to scale resources within our core businesses. Martin? Just to say, obviously, you're right, we've got a lot going on in our own market. We've got a pretty measured approach to international, and we've chosen partners carefully to leverage skills. It's worth obviously mentioning that JV partners are happy to do additional projects with us at CIP in terms of the forward opportunity. I think the key really is that the world is going to build hundreds of gigawatts of offshore wind, and we've got a skill set that's highly transferable and highly valued. We're world-class at building wind and building more offshore wind than anyone else in the world right now. That should make us consider international opportunities, but we are doing it in a relatively careful way. Thank you. Does that answer what you wanted, Deepa? I think the other thing I'd add, Deepa, is that internationally, it's about pipeline for not just this decade, it's the next decade and the decade after that, and it's building the business to be capable of that. We're cognizant that we are in a very good position in the U.K. and Ireland, but we have to recognize that there are other players coming into our market. That may not last for decades to come. We still expect to be there, but we should diversify. Actually our shareholders are telling us that they think we should diversify a bit, so that's coming from shareholders as well. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We will now take our last question. The question comes from the line of Chris Laybutt from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for taking my questions. Just a couple of quick ones and then one bigger picture. In terms of the super deduction and the impact of that policy on your effective tax rate, can you give us any guidance as to how much that may impact your effective tax rate for this year and next year? A question on your hedging. It looks like you plan to increase your hedging slightly in the wind component to increase wind capture from 85% to 90%. Just wondering if you can give some more details as to why you've decided to do that. Then, Martin, just a question really on the upcoming CFD auction later this year. You've got the three pots that apply to the different technologies. I'm just wondering which you feel would have the better supply and demand dynamics, which is a general question, not related to your project specifically. Perhaps the second part of that question is whether you see returns in the U.K. more attractive onshore versus offshore or vice versa at the moment, and how you see that developing in the coming years? Thanks very much. Okay, that's great. Well, it's going to be an interesting one first, shall we, Gregor? Tax. Look, I think it's a bit early, Chris. Clearly, we will see some benefit, but the super tax deduction doesn't apply to CapEx as contracted, and we are a long-term business and obviously in our offshore wind projects, a lot of that CapEx is contracted for. Even for Dogger Bank C, by the time it's complete, we may not be up and operating, So you don't get the full benefit there either. We'll see if a benefit comes through our network businesses. We're hoping that if we can accelerate on batteries, we can get that coming through. We will see some benefit coming through. You've got to remember, the corporation tax then rises to 25% in 2023, 2024. I think it will be half a percent, maybe a benefit, that type of benefit a year, but we will wait and see. It's too early to say. Hi, Chris. Just on hedging, I think referenced this earlier, it's just a minor change. We'll continue to keep that under review, but wouldn't expect any significant change year on year. Just to keep an eye on that, what happens in terms of wind capture. To your other question on AR4, which I think came in two parts. Obviously, we don't know the final volumes on pot sets. It's a bit difficult to answer a general supply/demand question on that and competitive question, so I'm not able to give you an answer on that. In terms of whether we see returns on U.K. onshore better than U.K. offshore, which I think was the second part of that question. Again, I suspect our answer would be it really depends on a whole bunch of factors. Probably what I would say is a very strong, robust carbon price is clearly helpful for renewables generally and is definitely creating a very good tailwind. Obviously energy prices are up as well. Spot spreads also up, and all of that plays into renewable space. How all of this plays through at the auction later this year, wouldn't be able to say right now. Okay. Sorry, just a couple of thoughts. I think we're encouraged by the floating piece. I think floating's going forward. I think, if they don't offer very much, it might be quite competitive because I think a few of us will be interested in getting into that floating area. I think if they're a bit more ambitious, which you'd hope they'd be, given the amount of floating they're going to need, then I think that it'll put that in a good place. Another thing I could sort of think, interesting to see where we get to on transmission. I think transmission constraints are an interesting part of where people will get to on whether we can get the build-out by 2030. I see that biting more and more. I think we've got to run hard as a transmission company, as have the other two, and Ofgem in particular, are going to have to run pretty hard to facilitate that 40 GW by 2030. We're going to find out the answer to that pretty shortly, I suspect, whether even that's achievable, because there's a lot of work to be done on transmission. That's the one thing I can say. Otherwise, I would agree with Martin. It's a bit tricky when you don't know what they're going for and all the rest of it. They seem to have ambition. If they keep putting it in there, it'll hopefully create enough price headroom to get a variety of different projects built, because I think there are lots of companies, lots of our competitors, who've got good projects out there and want to get us on this journey to net zero. Thank you very much. Could I just jump in with one quick follow-up just on the 57% load factor, Martin? Is that a net load factor? Is that a gross load factor? Just confirming, because it's a big number, and we're quite excited about it. Net. Okay. Thank you very much. Net, he said. Okay. Right. Thank you. Sharon. That's great. Thanks, Chris. Sharon, I think you said that was the last question? I did, sir. I'll hand back to you for closing remarks. Okay. That's great. Really appreciate everybody dialing in and taking the time this morning. Hopefully we've provided some clarity. Sounds like we've got one or two bits of clarification to come up afterwards. Please feel free to get in touch with the IR team, they can get ahold of us and other members of the team as well. Obviously, happy to try and answer your questions. We'll be on the Britain Investor Roadshow as well next week for investors. Hopefully we'll see a few people who've been listening in there, and look forward to any further engagement over the balance of the day and over the next few days. Otherwise, thank you for your time, and Sharon, as operator, thank you very much for helping us conduct the call.