Hydro Power News

Monday 29 June 2009

Glendoe, opened today, is the first hydro electric scheme

Plans to develop Britain's first pumped storage hydroelectric facilities in over 30 years have today (June 29) been unveiled by energy giant, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE).

The company has announced that it is hoping to develop two large scale schemes in the Great Glen in the Highlands which will use low-cost energy at periods of low demand to pump water to an upper reservoir, and then release them at periods of high energy demand and prices to a lower reservoir, to create energy. The schemes are expected to be the first of their kind since work began on the Dinorwig scheme in Wales in 1974.

The news came as one of SSE's other hydro stations, Glendoe, was today officially opened by the Queen.

Glendoe, located near Loch Ness, is  Great Britain's first large-scale conventional hydro electric station for 50 years.

Ian Marchant, SSE chief executive, said: "Our goal is to maintain a diversified portfolio of power stations, with the flexibility to respond to customer demand for electricity, while achieving a 50% reduction in the carbon dioxide intensity of electricity produced.

"Pumped storage can help us achieve this goal and, after 30 years, I believe is a technology whose time has come again," he added.

Capacity

Subject to final agreements and design, it is envisaged that the proposed plants in the Great Glen will have an installed capacity of between 300MW and 600MW each and be able to produce in excess of 1,000GWh of electricity in a typical year to help meet peak demand. In both cases, the upper reservoirs would be large, enabling electricity generation to continue for longer periods.

Both schemes will require the construction of a dam in order to impound water and create the upper reservoirs, but it is currently envisaged that water pumping and electricity generation at both developments will be carried out underground, thereby avoiding any visual impact.

Whilst losses of energy during the pumping process generally makes the pumped storage plants net consumer of energy overall, SSE explained that the schemes would "complement the growing, but variable, amount of electricity produced by many renewable energy schemes, including wind farms."

SSE is now seeking guidance on what environmental impact statements that would need to accompany planning applications for the schemes, which are planned to be submitted during 2011.

SSE already owns and operates a 300MW pumped storage scheme at Foyers, on the South side of Loch Ness, which produces 300GWh of electricity in a typical year to help meet peak demand.

It is also intending to submit a planning application to Scottish ministers to develop a 60MW pumped storage system at is existing Sloy hydro electric power station at Loch Lomond, allowing it to produce an additional 100GWh of electricity in a typical year to meet peak demand.