A giant hydroelectric power station that would double the UK’s ability to store energy for long periods takes a leap forward with a £100m investment by SSE.
The proposed 92m dam and two reservoirs at Coire Glas in the Highlands would be Britain’s largest hydropower project in 40 years.
Scottish ministers approved the 1.5GW pumped storage power station in 2020.
But electricity giant SSE wants assurances from the UK government before giving it a final go-ahead.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero said it was “committed to supporting the low-carbon hydropower sector, including water storage.”
The Perth-based SSE says the £1.5billion scheme would help tackle climate change and improve Britain’s energy security.
The concept of Coire Glas is simple. They are two reservoirs at different elevations in the Great Glen, the geological fault cutting through Scotland between Inverness and Fort William.
If electricity is plentiful and cheap, water would be pumped 500 meters uphill to be stored in an upper reservoir with a capacity of 11,000 Olympic-sized pools.
When supply is tight and prices high, it would be released, using gravity to generate electricity by spinning four turbines deep down on the shore of Loch Lochy, before flowing into the lower reservoir.
By storing electricity generated in windy or sunny weather for use on cold, still or dark days, Coire Glass could help facilitate the transition from oil, gas and coal to more sustainable but intermittent energy sources like wind and solar facilitate.
“We strongly believe it could play a huge role in enabling a decarbonized energy system,” said Finlay McCutcheon, director of onshore renewable energy at SSE.
Keith Bell, professor of future energy systems at the University of Strathclyde, said the proposed program would also help with another policy objective: reducing Britain’s dependence on imported gas, a challenge raised by the invasion of Ukraine by the world’s largest gas exporter last year Year became even more urgent , Russia.
However, Prof Bell cautioned: “We need much more energy storage capacity to completely get rid of fossil fuels…probably even 10 to 50 times larger than the capacity of Coire glass.”
Nonetheless, it would still be the UK’s largest hydropower project since the completion of the ‘Electric Mountain’ project at Dinorwig in Snowdonia in 1984 and one of the largest engineering projects ever in the Highlands, creating up to 500 construction jobs in its heyday.
Debate over the pace of the energy transition has been the subject of the current campaign for SNP leadership after outgoing First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed concerns about new North Sea drilling linked to Scotland’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 .
SSE’s Mr McCutcheon insisted that there were clear arguments for the UK Government to support strategic expansion of hydropower capacity.
The company’s existing assets were “absolutely critical” to keeping the lights on during a “full-blown energy crisis” in the UK and Europe this winter, he said.
Despite the mild weather, “our existing pumped storage facility — Foyers on the shore of Loch Ness — has never seen such intensive use,” McCutcheon added.
Scotland’s only other pumped storage system, operated by the Drax Group, is in a huge man-made cave at Ben Cruachan on the shores of Loch Awe in Argyll.
The North Yorkshire-based company plans to more than double the generation capacity of its facility, nicknamed Hollow Mountain, to more than 1GW with the construction of a new underground power plant.
But both Drax and SSE were reluctant to move forward without assurances from Whitehall.
“SSE needs clarity on how the UK Government will support projects like Coire Glas,” McCutcheon said.
“That was a key element of their energy security strategy last year, but we have to see how that will work out in practice.”
He added: “It doesn’t require subsidies, but it’s a huge investment.”
In particular, SSE would like a commitment to a revenue stabilization mechanism and more assurances about how the regulated energy market would reward low-carbon power generation.
Prof Bell, from the University of Strathclyde, said industry urgently needs answers, noting that the Climate Change Committee, which advises the UK and devolved governments, published a report this month asking ministers to change their minds more clarity please.
The spokesman for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero accepted that hydropower was “critical to delivering greater energy security and independence, economic growth and our net zero ambitions.”
“We are already supporting up to 480,000 well-paying green jobs and mobilizing up to €100bn in private investment by 2030, the lowest in Europe,” they added.
It’s amazing how this old technology suddenly becomes necessary again – albeit for completely different reasons.
Pumped storage power plants were once indispensable when we all needed electricity at the same time.
The moment Dirty Den delivered the divorce papers to his wife Angie during the Christmas Day 1986 episode of Eastenders was watched by 30 million people.
Most of them needed a soothing cup of tea after the credits rolled.
All of these boilers generated a phenomenal demand for electricity, and then the floodgates of our pumped hydroelectric power plants opened.
That doesn’t happen as often now due to changing viewing habits, and it’s the peaks and troughs of supply rather than demand that this type of technology will solve.
In 15 years, when we lie in bed on a windy night, it will provide a place for all that excess energy to be used when we wake up.
SSE hopes to make a final investment decision next year. If progress is made, it is expected to be completed in 2031.
During operation, Coire Glas could reach full generating capacity in less than 60 seconds, providing rapid flexibility in the event of a power outage elsewhere on the national grid.
Alternatively, at a more sustainable level, it could power three million homes for up to 24 hours.
The £100m spending announced by the FTSE 100 company will be used for reconnaissance work which will involve boring a four meter wide tunnel some 1km in length into the hillside to assess the geology of the site.
The investment in Coire Glas marks the 80th anniversary of the Hydro Electric Development (Scotland) Act 1943 which nationalized the industry and initiated the construction of more than 50 dams.
Visionary Labor politician Tom Johnston was the driving force behind the expansion that brought power and jobs to the Glens and dramatically improved life in rural Scotland in the post-war years.
Add Comment