| Pumped storage
“These kinds of hydro projects played a huge role in the UK’s post-war recovery, harnessing the power of the glens and creating green jobs for soldiers returning from war” Phillips-Davies says. “This is the kind of solution we need as part of a national effort to boost investment in infrastructure, deliver a green economic recovery and build the homegrown energy on which our future generations can depend.” Finlay McCutcheon, SSE Renewables’ Director of
Onshore Europe, adds: “In response to the current situation in the energy markets, the UK needs to not only supercharge cheap renewables but also home-grown, long-duration storage technologies to cost-effectively decarbonise the grid and reduce our dependence on imported gas. “The swift introduction of an adapted Cap and Floor mechanism by government this year could unlock billions of pounds of investment in these vital technologies and create thousands of skilled jobs. As the UK’s clean energy champion, with our consented and shovel-ready 1500MW Coire Glas pumped storage project in the Scottish Highlands, we stand ready to play our part.”
Cruachan expansion Renewable energy company Drax has submitted
an application to expand Cruachan Power Station in Scotland and build a new underground pumped storage plant. The new power station could be operational as soon as 2030 with construction work getting underway in 2024. The major infrastructure project will support around 900 jobs during six years of construction across a range of industries from quarrying and engineering, to transport and hospitality. Around 150 on-site local construction jobs will be created during the development. The up to 600MW power station will be located inside Ben Cruachan – Argyll’s highest mountain – and increase the site’s total capacity to 1.04GW. The plant will be housed within a new, hollowed-out cavern with around two million tonnes of rock being excavated to create the cavern, tunnels, and other parts of the power station.
When operational, the new plant will provide critical stability services to the power system. It will use reversible turbines to pump water from Loch Awe to the upper reservoir on the mountainside to store excess power from wind farms and other low carbon technologies when supply outstrips demand and then use this stored water to generate renewable power when it is needed. Wind farms are routinely paid to turn off when supply outstrips demand or there is insufficient capacity on the National Grid Transmission System due to a lack of energy storage creating local bottlenecks. In 2020, enough wind power to supply around a million homes went to waste because of this. “Only by investing in long-duration storage
technologies can the UK reach its full renewable potential, and Drax is ready to move mountains to do just that,” Ian Kinnaird, Drax’s Scottish Assets Director, comments. In order to deploy this critical technology, Drax must
secure consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 from the Scottish Government – a process which will take around one year to complete from the application’s submission. Alongside this, the project will also require an updated policy and market support mechanism from the UK Government. No investment decision has yet been taken and development remains subject to the right regulatory framework with the UK government. ●
Top: SSE’s proposed Coire Glas pumped storage scheme will be located on the shores of Loch Lochy in the Highlands of Scotland.
Above: The concrete dam of Cruachan pumped storage hydroelectric power station high on the side of Ben Cruachan mountain in the West Highlands of Scotland
Left: Looking down from the Cruachan Dam. Renewable energy company Drax has submitted plans to expand Cruachan Power Station in Scotland
www.waterpowermagazine.com | July 2022 | 17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37
