Reports related to this article:
Project(s): View 3 related projects in PECWeb
Released August 08, 2023 | GALWAY, IRELAND
en
Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Drax Group plc (LSE:DRX) (Selby, England) has been granted the green light for a £500 million (US$643 million) underground pumped storage hydro plant in Scotland.
Permission was granted by the Scottish Government for the expansion project at the existing Cruachan Power Station in Argyll, a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan. The new 600-megawatt (MW) plant is part of a wider £7 billion (US$9 billion) strategic investment plan by Drax 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. Constructed adjacent to the existing underground facility, the new pumped storage hydro plant will more than double the site's total generation capacity to more than 1 gigawatt (GW).
Visiting the site, Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf commented: "Hydropower has real potential to play a greater role in our transition to net zero, and to help ensure a resilient and secure electricity supply across the U.K.. The expansion of Cruachan will help to strengthen our energy security by providing much needed resilience in the system, supporting hundreds of jobs and providing a real boost to the Scottish economy."
Will Gardiner, Drax Group chief executive officer, said: "This is a major milestone in Drax's plans to build Britain's first new pumped storage hydro plant in a generation. These plants play a critical role in stabilizing the electricity system, helping to balance supply and demand through storing excess power from the national grid. When Scotland's wind turbines are generating more power than we need, Cruachan steps in to store the renewable electricity so it doesn't go to waste. With the right support from the U.K. Government, Drax will invest around £500 million to more than double Cruachan's generating capacity and support almost 1,000 jobs across the supply chain during construction."
The project does face some financing issues as there is no support framework for large-scale, long-duration storage technologies, a situation that has meant there have been no new hydro plants constructed in the U.K. since 1984. Yousaf is calling on the U.K. government to back the project. "We know that there remain a number of challenges in developing new hydro power projects in Scotland. The Scottish Government will continue to urge the U.K. government to provide an appropriate market mechanism for hydro power and other long duration energy storage technologies, to ensure that the potential for hydro power is fully realized."
Drax acquired Cruachan alongside the Galloway and Lanark hydro schemes in 2019, and has been a pioneer in sustainable power projects ever since converting the U.K.'s largest coal-fired plant in Selby to biomass. With a generating capacity of 2,595 MW, it produces around 14 terawatt-hours (TWh) of power a year and is responsible for supplying 11% of the U.K.'s renewable power. Industrial Info is tracking a number of the company's current projects including a 200-MW battery energy storage system (BESS) and its Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) project, both located at the Selby plant. Following a successful pilot in 2018, Drax started work on a larger BECCS project with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) within the power plant's carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) incubation area. Drax aims to use the technology to become carbon-negative by 2030. The first BECCS unit at Drax is scheduled to start operating in 2027, capturing and storing at least 8 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
Permission was granted by the Scottish Government for the expansion project at the existing Cruachan Power Station in Argyll, a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan. The new 600-megawatt (MW) plant is part of a wider £7 billion (US$9 billion) strategic investment plan by Drax 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. Constructed adjacent to the existing underground facility, the new pumped storage hydro plant will more than double the site's total generation capacity to more than 1 gigawatt (GW).
Visiting the site, Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf commented: "Hydropower has real potential to play a greater role in our transition to net zero, and to help ensure a resilient and secure electricity supply across the U.K.. The expansion of Cruachan will help to strengthen our energy security by providing much needed resilience in the system, supporting hundreds of jobs and providing a real boost to the Scottish economy."
Will Gardiner, Drax Group chief executive officer, said: "This is a major milestone in Drax's plans to build Britain's first new pumped storage hydro plant in a generation. These plants play a critical role in stabilizing the electricity system, helping to balance supply and demand through storing excess power from the national grid. When Scotland's wind turbines are generating more power than we need, Cruachan steps in to store the renewable electricity so it doesn't go to waste. With the right support from the U.K. Government, Drax will invest around £500 million to more than double Cruachan's generating capacity and support almost 1,000 jobs across the supply chain during construction."
The project does face some financing issues as there is no support framework for large-scale, long-duration storage technologies, a situation that has meant there have been no new hydro plants constructed in the U.K. since 1984. Yousaf is calling on the U.K. government to back the project. "We know that there remain a number of challenges in developing new hydro power projects in Scotland. The Scottish Government will continue to urge the U.K. government to provide an appropriate market mechanism for hydro power and other long duration energy storage technologies, to ensure that the potential for hydro power is fully realized."
Drax acquired Cruachan alongside the Galloway and Lanark hydro schemes in 2019, and has been a pioneer in sustainable power projects ever since converting the U.K.'s largest coal-fired plant in Selby to biomass. With a generating capacity of 2,595 MW, it produces around 14 terawatt-hours (TWh) of power a year and is responsible for supplying 11% of the U.K.'s renewable power. Industrial Info is tracking a number of the company's current projects including a 200-MW battery energy storage system (BESS) and its Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) project, both located at the Selby plant. Following a successful pilot in 2018, Drax started work on a larger BECCS project with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) within the power plant's carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) incubation area. Drax aims to use the technology to become carbon-negative by 2030. The first BECCS unit at Drax is scheduled to start operating in 2027, capturing and storing at least 8 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
