280Key concepts (generating undertaking etc)U.K.
(1)In this Part—
“company” has the meaning it has in the Corporation Tax Acts (see section 1121 of CTA 2010);
“generating undertaking” means—
(a)a company, other than a company that is a member of a group, that operates a relevant generating station, or
(b)a group of companies that includes at least one member who operates a relevant generating station;
a generating station is “relevant”—
(a)if it generates electricity at a relevant place and is not a generating station that mainly generates electricity—
(i)as a result of the burning of oil, coal or natural gas, or
(ii)as a result of the use of plant driven by water, where the power is mainly a result of the hydrostatic head of the water having been increased by pumping, and
(b)to the extent that it is not subject to—
(i)a contract for difference within the meaning of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2013 (contracts for difference),
(ii)an investment contract within the meaning of Schedule 2 to that Act (investment contracts),
(iii)a revenue collection contract within the meaning of Part 2 of the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Act 2022 (revenue collection contracts), or
(iv)feed-in tariff export payments;
“relevant place” means a place in—
(a)the United Kingdom,
(b)the territorial sea of the United Kingdom, or
(c)a Renewable Energy Zone within the meaning of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2004 (see section 84(4) of that Act);
a generating station is “subject”—
(a)to a contract for difference or an investment contract to the extent that its output may give rise to payments under such an instrument, and
(b)to feed-in tariff export payments to the extent its output gives rise to such payments, and
(c)to a revenue collection contract if the station is the subject of such a contract.
(2)References in this Part to a “qualifying period” in relation to a generating undertaking means—
(a)the period, if any, between the beginning of 1 January 2023 and the commencement of the first accounting period of the undertaking that commences on or after 1 January 2023,
(b)the first accounting period of the undertaking commencing on or after 1 January 2023,
(c)every subsequent accounting period of the undertaking that ends on or before 31 March 2028, and
(d)the period, if any, between the end of the last accounting period ending on or before 31 March 2028 and the end of 31 March 2028.
(3)References in this Part to an “accounting period” are—
(a)in relation to a company within the charge to corporation tax, to an accounting period for the purposes of that tax, or
(b)in relation to a company not within the charge to corporation tax, to a period that would be an accounting period for the purposes of that tax were the company within the charge to that tax and had first come within it on 1 January 2023.
See also section 288, which provides that the accounting period of a generating undertaking that is a group is the accounting period of its lead member.