£100m boost for biggest UK hydro scheme in decades

A elephantine hydro strategy which would treble the UK's quality to store vigor for agelong periods is taking a leap guardant with a £100m concern by SSE.

The projected 92m-high dam and 2 reservoirs astatine Coire Glas successful the Highlands would beryllium Britain's biggest hydroelectric task for 40 years.

Scottish ministers approved the 1.5GW pumped retention installation successful 2020.

But powerfulness elephantine SSE wants assurances from the UK authorities earlier yet signing it off.

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said it was "committed to supporting the debased c hydro sector, including hydro storage".

Perth-based SSE says the £1.5bn strategy would assistance tackle clime alteration and amended UK vigor security.

The conception of Coire Glas is simple. It involves 2 reservoirs astatine antithetic heights successful the Great Glen, the geological responsibility which slices done Scotland betwixt Inverness and Fort William.

When powerfulness is plentiful and cheap, h2o would beryllium pumped 500 metres uphill for retention successful an precocious reservoir with the capableness of 11,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

When proviso is choky and prices high, it would beryllium released, utilizing gravity to make energy by spinning 4 turbines mode beneath connected the banks of Loch Lochy, earlier flowing into the little reservoir.

By storing energy generated successful windy oregon sunny upwind for usage connected cold, inactive oregon acheronian days, Coire Glas could assistance creaseless the modulation from oil, state and ember to much sustainable but intermittent sources of vigor specified arsenic upwind and solar.

"We judge powerfully it could play a immense relation successful enabling a decarbonised vigor system," said Finlay McCutcheon, SSE's manager of onshore renewables.

Keith Bell, prof of aboriginal powerfulness systems astatine Strathclyde University, said the projected strategy would besides assistance with different argumentation objective: reducing the UK's reliance connected imported gas, a situation fixed added urgency by the penetration of Ukraine past twelvemonth by the world's largest state exporter, Russia.

However, Prof Bell injected a enactment of caution, saying: "We request a batch much vigor retention capableness to get escaped of fossil fuels completely... astir apt 10 to 50 times greater adjacent than the capableness of Coire Glas."

Nonetheless it would inactive beryllium the UK's largest hydro strategy since the "Electric Mountain" task was completed astatine Dinorwig successful Snowdonia successful 1984, and 1 of the biggest-ever engineering projects successful the Highlands, creating up to 500 operation jobs astatine its peak.

Debate astir the gait of the vigor modulation has featured successful the existent run for the SNP enactment aft outgoing First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed concern astir caller North Sea drilling successful the discourse of gathering Scotland's people of nett zero greenhouse state emissions by 2045.

Mr McCutcheon, of SSE, insisted determination was a wide lawsuit for the UK authorities to enactment a strategical enlargement successful hydro capacity.

The firm's existing assets had been "absolutely critical" successful keeping the lights connected during a "full-blown vigor crisis" successful the UK and Europe this winter, helium said.

Despite mild weather, "our existing pumped retention - Foyers connected the shores of Loch Ness - has ne'er been utilized truthful intensely," Mr McCutcheon added.

Scotland's lone different pumped retention scheme, operated by Drax Group, is housed wrong a elephantine artificial cavern wrong Ben Cruachan connected the shores of Loch Awe successful Argyll.

The North Yorkshire-based institution plans to much than treble the generating capableness of its facility, nicknamed Hollow Mountain, to much than 1GW, with the operation of a caller underground powerfulness station.

But some Drax and SSE person been reluctant to property up without assurances from Whitehall.

"SSE needs clarity astir however the UK authorities is going to enactment projects similar Coire Glas," Mr McCutcheon explained.

"It was a cardinal constituent of their vigor information strategy past year, but we request to spot however that's going to enactment successful practice."

He added: "It doesn't necessitate subsidy but they are tremendous investments."

Specifically, SSE would similar a committedness to a gross stabilisation mechanics and much assurances astir however the regulated vigor marketplace would reward debased c powerfulness generation.

Prof Bell of Strathclyde University said answers were urgently needed by industry, pointing retired that the Climate Change Committee, which advises the UK and devolved governments, had published a report this period asking ministers for greater clarity.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson accepted that hydro would beryllium "critical to delivering greater vigor information and independence, economical growth, and our nett zero ambitions".

"Already we are supporting up to 480,000 well-paid greenish jobs, and leveraging up to £100bn of backstage concern successful low-carbon technologies including retention by 2030. This volition bolster our vigor information and assistance guarantee we bring down wholesale energy prices to among the lowest successful Europe," they added.

It's astonishing however this aged exertion is abruptly becoming indispensable again - but for precise antithetic reasons.

Pumped hydro schemes were erstwhile captious erstwhile we each demanded energy astatine the aforesaid time.

The infinitesimal erstwhile Dirty Den served divorcement papers connected his woman Angie during the 1986 Christmas Day occurrence of Eastenders was watched by 30 cardinal people.

Most of them needed a calming cupful of beverage erstwhile the credits rolled.

All those kettles created a phenomenal request for electricity, and that's erstwhile the sluice gates opened connected our pumped hydro plants.

Changing TV habits mean that doesn't hap arsenic often now, and it's the peaks and troughs of proviso - alternatively than request - which this benignant of exertion volition resolve.

In 15 years, erstwhile we're tucked up successful furniture connected a windy night, it'll supply determination for each that excess powerfulness to spell truthful that it tin beryllium utilized erstwhile we aftermath up.

SSE says it hopes to marque a last concern determination adjacent year. If it goes ahead, completion is expected successful 2031.

When running, Coire Glas could scope afloat generating capableness successful nether 60 seconds, providing accelerated flexibility successful the lawsuit of a nonaccomplishment of powerfulness elsewhere connected the nationalist grid.

Alternatively, operating astatine a much sustainable level, it could powerfulness 3 cardinal homes for up to 24 hours.

The £100m outlay announced by the FTSE 100 institution volition beryllium utilized for exploratory work, which includes boring a passageway 4 metres wide for astir 1km into the hillside to measure the geology of the site.

The concern successful Coire Glas comes connected the 80th day of the Hydro Electric Development (Scotland) Act 1943, which nationalised the manufacture and kick-started the instauration of much than 50 dams.

The visionary Labour person Tom Johnston was the driving unit down the expansion, which brought powerfulness and jobs to the glens, dramatically improving beingness successful agrarian Scotland successful the years aft the war.