Contrary to rumors earlier in the year that it was looking for potential buyers for the rest of its U.S.-based assets, ScottishPower’s CEO Wednesday lauded Portland, OR-based PPM Energy for its “excellent” financial results. He also announced new expansions of its wind power and natural gas storage projects in the United States.

CEO Philip Bowman made the announcements as part of giving financial results for the parent company’s overall operations in the most recent quarter ended March 31, including a 91-million-pound net profit from PPM’s operations, a 55% increase from a year earlier.

Included in the quarterly report was an announcement that PPM will build a 15 Bcf natural gas hub storage facility in Texas slated for service in 2010 when a lot of the now-planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) import projects begin to come online. Bowman described PPM’s strategy as being “to build on leading positions in wind generation and independent storage, as well as expanding the associated energy management and origination businesses.”

ScottishPower has invested the equivalent of $1.9 billion in PPM, the CEO said, and it plans an additional investment of more than $2 billion (or 1.6 billion pounds) by 2010. This added investment goes along with the company’s announced goal of increasing its 2010 target for overall onshore wind capacity by more than 50% to 3,500 MW developed and controlled by PPM, Bowman said.

In the wind sector, PPM will be looking to provide a “range of new products,” Bowman said, including turnkey projects for utilities and completion of added wind financing transactions.

Wind energy capacity for the U.S. merchant energy firm tripled last year, with five projects totaling 575 MW coming on line, Bowman told his shareholders at an annual meeting in the UK. Another seven projects, totaling 860 MW, have been announced for this year and next.

“The success in our wind business was mirrored by a very strong performance in our trading activity, supported by our own and contracted natural gas storage assets,” Bowman said. “PPM’s energy management and origination business continues to build a portfolio of transport rights and marketing alliances to complement its gas storage activity, including a 10-year gas purchase and supply agreement with Cheniere LNG.”

PPM will look to develop a $200 million, 15 Bcf storage facility at the Houston Hub in Texas, said Bowman, noting that it is “strategically located in the middle of the developing Texas and Louisiana LNG market” and will share existing interconnections with its Katy facility. The Houston Hub is located West of Dayton, TX.

The PPM storage business delivered “strong profit growth” in 2005, Bowman said, and it expanded investment in the area with a new 9.5 Bcf facility at Waha in West Texas that will open next year, and a 1.5 Bcf expansion its Gamma Ridge facility in New Mexico that is now operational.

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