U.K. Confirms Pumped-storage Project in Wales

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The U.K. government has given the green light for a 99-megawatt (MW) pumped hydro storage project to be developed at two disused slate quarries in Wales.

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark approved the development consent order (DCO) for the scheme, which will use the abandoned Glyn Rhonwy and Chwarel Fawr slate quarries near Llanberis in North Wales. The project, which is listed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, has been the subject of controversy due to its location near Snowdonia National Park. It will be the country's first grid-scale pumped-storage scheme in more than 30 years. The two water reservoirs will be able to store 700 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity, enough to supply 200,000 homes with electricity for seven hours a day over a projected operational lifetime of 125 years or more.

Construction on the plant could begin as early as next year, according to developer SPH, and will cost £160 million ($207 million). The facility will use unused power from wind and solar sources to pump water through an underground tunnel from the lower to the upper reservoir. When needed, the water will flow back down the tunnel, spinning a turbine in an underground chamber to re-generate power.

"There are signs that the government is taking storage seriously," said SPH Managing Director Dave Holmes. "The National Infrastructure Commission last year urged swift action on storage, and a team inside the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is looking urgently at how planning barriers and market disincentives to storage can be addressed. We see the grant of permission for our Glyn Rhonwy scheme as highly significant, signalling a real change that will enable the U.K. to meet carbon reduction targets, while keeping electricity supply secure and prices for consumers under control."

SPH has indicated that the U.K. could build some 50 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of pumped hydro storage using unconventional sites like ex-industrial quarries, coastal locations and existing drinking water reservoirs.

Industrial Info reported last month that Germany was working on plans to transform a working coal mine into a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant. The state of North-Rhine Westphalia wants to turn the Prosper-Haniel hard coal mine in Bottrop into a 200-megawatt (MW) pumped hydro plant capable of supplying backup power to about 400,000 homes. The 600-metre-deep coal mine has been worked since the 1970s and is facing closure in 2018. For additional information, see March 29, 2017, article - Germany to Reuse Coal Mine as Pumped Hydro Power Plant.

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.