Britain's SSE secures capacity contracts from RWE coal plant

LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - British energy supplier SSE has agreed with RWE Generation UK for the transfer of capacity market contracts from RWE's Aberthaw B power plant to SSE's Peterhead gas plant in Scotland, the firm said on Friday.

RWE is due to close its 1.56 gigawatt Aberthaw B power plant in Wales next year. Under Britain's capacity market, utilities are paid to provide electricity at short notice.

"This agreement means the station will be contracted through to September 2022, helping to safeguard customers’ power supplies by offering flexible and reliable generation capacity," said Stephen Wheeler, SSE managing director of thermal energy. (Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Alexander Smith)