Chris Huhne, the new energy and climate change minister, is sceptical about nuclear power but wanted to support the development of renewable energy, according to the UK's largest renewable generator.

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) said it had "good discussions" with Huhne on Tuesday. The company said he was very well-informed and fully supportive of its projects, including the huge Greater Gabbard wind farm off the coast of Suffolk which, when built, will be the largest offshore wind farm of its kind in the world.

"He [Huhne] was well aware of SSE's credentials and he was keen to see us continuing with what we are doing and to ensure there is continuing inward investment in this [wind] sector," said SSE's chief executive, Ian Marchant.

But the utility boss, whose company is considering whether to build a new nuclear plant near Sellafield in Cumbria with Iberdrola of Spain and GDF of France, said the energy secretary was more downbeat about atomic power.

"He was sceptical on the economics of nuclear but made it clear he would allow people to make their own decisions on this and would not stand in their way if they can do it without subsidies," said Marchant.

"Personally, I think being sceptical is no bad thing. The worst thing you can have is a situation where the state bends over backwards to [financially] support nuclear. Look where that got us?" he added.

Huhne's party, the Liberal Democrats, orchestrated a mechanism for maintaining their opposition to nuclear power even though allowing nuclear to progress is government policy. The coalition has pledged to allow nuclear stations to be built so long as they do not involve public subsidies.

SSE said it would do a lot of preparatory work on whether to go ahead with a new atomic plant before deciding in around two years' time whether such a move made commercial sense. "We would have to be able to justify a decision whether for or against to both customers and shareholders," said Marchant.

In the meantime, the utility company is spending £660m this year pressing ahead with wind farms and other renewable schemes. SSE is the biggest renewable generator largely because of its hydro-electric plants but has also moved into tidal and wave power.

The company also runs coal-fired power stations such as Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire but said it was putting back by two years plans to start operating the Abernedd gas-fired power station in Baglan Bay, South Wales.

This is partly because industrial customers have reduced demand due to the recession, while homeowners are continuing to cut their own consumption by taking energy-efficiency measures such as insulating their houses. Domestic gas use has gone down by 3% to 5% for the last three years in a row but SSE still ran up pre-tax profits of £1.29bn for the year to end March.