ScottishPower Promotes 600 MW Scottish Hydro Project

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--ScottishPower Ltd. has confirmed plans to add up to 600 megawatts (MW) of capacity to the Cruachan pumped storage hydroelectric power plant in the Scottish Highlands.

The company, which is part of Spanish energy major Iberdrola S.A. (BME:IBE) (Bilbao, Spain), has just published the results of a two-year feasibility study and is calling on the U.K. government to back the £400 million ($566 million) project. The project would boost the current generation capacity of Cruachan from 440 MW to 1,040 MW. Cruachan is celebrating 50 years of operation this year.

"Pumped storage hydro is the most cost effective and well-developed large-scale electricity storage technology in existence," said Hugh Finlay, ScottishPower's generation director. "We will now take forward our Cruachan findings with government and regulators. A new generation of pumped storage hydro would be a major asset for electricity systems worldwide as more renewable electricity continues to come on line. As well as being able to further support peak demand, expanded pumped storage would also be able to effectively store greater levels of electricity at times when renewable energy output is high but demand is low."

The project would see a new turbine cavern being excavated within Ben Cruachan mountain and the potential construction of new dams that would increase the capacity of the upper reservoir. ScottishPower estimated the project will take 8-10 years overall with 6-7 years needed for construction and commissioning.

Hydro is not on the government's priority list for new power projects, however, with wind, nuclear and gas garnering most of the attention and financial backing. Finlay, speaking to the Financial Times, said that the project could not go ahead without some form of support. "We do need to be able to de-risk the project, and we need government help," he said.

The project has the support of environmental groups including World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Scotland. Speaking to the Daily Record, WWF Scotland director Lang Banks explained: "Along with efforts to reduce electricity demand and strengthen interconnectors, increasing our hydro-pumped storage capacity would go a long way to helping deliver a fossil-fuel free power system. That is why the U.K. and Scottish governments need to work with industry to incentivise investment in pumped storage. Independent research has shown that Scotland can have a safe and secure electricity supply with almost entirely renewable electricity generation in 2030, by playing to our amazing natural resource strengths including greater use of pumped storage."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Our European headquarters are located in Galway, Ireland. Follow IIR Europe on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn For more information on our European coverage send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.eu or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe.

Project(s) 300153261 Plant(s) 1083644