Statkraft Buys Loch Ness Battery Storage Project

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A major 450-megawatt (MW) hydropower scheme located above the famous Loch Ness in Scotland will move forward following the £550 million (US$697 million) buyout of the project by Norway's state-owned energy company Statkraft (Oslo, Norway).

Statkraft has agreed to buy the Red John Pumped Storage Hydro Scheme from Intelligent Land Investments Group (ILI) (Hamilton, Scotland). Located approximately 14 kilometers (km) southwest of Inverness, the project will draw water from Loch Ness into underground tunnels to pumps that pump water uphill to a new 'headpond' (upper reservoir) created by the construction of a landscaped embankment between Loch Ashie and Loch Duntelchaig. It will be stored as potential energy until the demand for electricity requires it to be released back down through tunnels to an underground Power Cavern for conversion to electricity. Statkraft is the largest producer of electricity from hydropower in Europe, with more than 350 hydropower plants, including a number of pumped storage plants in operation in Norway and Germany.

"Statkraft has a good neighbor ethos, whereby we seek to bring extra value to the locations where we operate, such as the Highlands, where we have a growing number of projects," said Iain Robertson, head of Statkraft Scotland. "We already have a range of local partnerships, including with the University of the Highlands & Islands, and Highland Renewables, and look forward to expanding our relationships in the future. This acquisition and the jobs it will bring further cements our commitment to the region, and to Scotland. But there needs to be an appropriate support mechanism in place, so we're now looking to the U.K. Government to provide the certainty that will allow us to proceed with confidence."

Mark Wilson, chief executive officer of ILI, added: "From its inception until now, Red John has been eight years in getting to this stage and has required the expertise and dedication of a fantastic team. As we stand on the threshold of a greener future where long-duration storage like Red John is paramount, we believe the U.K. can lead in renewable energy paired with energy storage as a keystone for the energy transition. There are over 5-gigawatts (GW) pumped storage hydro projects in the U.K. pipeline which will inject billions into the economy and create over 15,000 new jobs. We encourage the UK Government to provide the support mechanisms now for long duration storage and strive to become a world leader in achieving net-zero."

Industrial Info is tracking another key Scottish hydro project at the Cruachan hydro plant. Cruachan 2 is a 600-MW expansion of the existing 440-MW plant located within the Ben Cruachan mountain and has a targeted commissioning date of 2030. The project is part of a wider £7 billion (US$9 billion) strategic investment plan by Drax Group plc (LSE:DRX) (Selby, England) in clean energy technologies between 2024 and 2030, which includes long-duration storage and its Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) project at the massive Drax biomass power station in Selby, England. For additional information, see August 8, 2023, article - Drax Wins Approval for Scottish Hydro Plant.

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