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climate crisis, it is sobering, dismaying and a stark reminder of the consequences of inaction or indeed inadequate and delayed action, Gilmore added. “These factors compound the need and imperative for the UK to unhitch itself from the global fossil fuel market and scale up the deployment of energy generation from our huge indigenous natural resources that we can tap into through hydropower, tidal range, tidal stream, wind and solar,” the CEO of the BHA said, adding that all technologies need to be in the mix. “Hydropower and PSH are proven, reliable


technologies that have longevity, with installations lasting well over 80 years. We have pipelines of project that can be deployed and,” according to Gilmore, “we estimate that there is 1GW of hydropower and at least 10GW of PSH potential utilising a supply chain that is 80% embedded within the UK. However, with high initial capital costs and longer paybacks these technologies are reliant on stable price signals within the energy market, something that we don’t have. The BHA believes that such a market failure within the energy sector needs correction through policy levers and the creation of longer-term price mechanisms. While cost comparisons of energy across different low carbon technologies needs to stop. Instead the association believes they should be compared with the high carbon generation they are replacing.


“Renewable energy technologies all do something


different on the grid,” Gilmore explains. “Hydropower should be compared to the cost of a gas peaking plant, which at £250 MWh is much more expensive than hydropower. 1GW of hydropower could replace 1GW of gas peaking plant in the expensive capacity market or finally take off that 1GW of coal that is still loitering on the grid.”


In another open letter to the UK Government, Scottish Renewables joined forces with the BHA and explained that by investing in pumped storage the government would:


Reduce annual constraint costs - These are payments made to electricity generators to balance the supply and demand of electricity generation and reached £1.94 billion in 2022. PSH can mitigate these costs by allowing for greater use of generation in constrained areas as well as reducing the need for costly grid reinforcement. If deployed, PSH could


deliver system cost savings of up to £680 million per year by 2050. Help deliver energy security - The recent energy price crisis demonstrated that the transition to home-grown renewable energy is the only sustainable path to energy security and PSH is a tried and tested technology that can deliver this by storing energy for when it is most needed. Make the UK a more favourable investment destination - With increasing global competition for clean energy investment, in particular the US’ Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan, developers urgently need the UK government to implement a suitable investment framework to secure low-cost financing for their PSH projects. Reduce consumer bills - Speeding up delivery of long-term energy storage is essential to deliver the UK’s net-zero energy system – the best way of reducing energy bills for consumers in the long term.


Andrew MacNish Porter, Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables, said: “A recent report which Scottish Renewables commissioned from BiGGAR Economics found that six projects currently under development in Scotland will more than double the UK’s pumped storage hydro capacity to 7.7GW, create almost 15,000 jobs and generate up to £5.8 billion for the UK economy by 2035.


Above: Looking down from the Cruachan Dam, part of a pumped storage project in Scotland. Drax Group has recently received development consent for a £500 million expansion of the scheme


Below: Grafham Water in England is the country’s third largest reservoir by area. Anglian Water has plans for two new raw water reservoirs in East England, similar in size to Grafham


www.waterpowermagazine.com | September 2023 | 13


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