
Vitality agency Drax Group has secured improvement consent from the Scottish Authorities for plans to construct a brand new c.£500m underground pumped storage hydro plant at its current Cruachan facility in Argyll.
The choice was made via the Part 36 course of, and introduced on Tuesday, 25 July.
On the identical day, Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf visited the facility station on the shores of Loch Awe, the place he underlined his name for the UK Authorities “to supply an applicable market mechanism for hydro energy and different lengthy period power storage applied sciences.” Mr Yousaf lately wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to take motion so builders can have the understanding required to construct a brand new technology of pumped storage hydro vegetation.
Morag Watson, Director of Coverage at Scottish Renewables, mentioned: “At present’s announcement from Drax and The Scottish Authorities will not be solely thrilling information for Cruachan energy station and the broader renewable power trade, it’s a extremely optimistic step ahead for the transition to net-zero in Scotland.
“Lengthy-duration electrical energy storage, resembling pumped storage hydro, can be important for making certain power safety and protecting power payments low for shoppers as we decarbonise our power system. And the extension to the plant at Cruachan is one important step in the direction of maximising the advantages accessible from this expertise.
“Extra pumped storage hydro means we are able to retailer low cost renewable electrical energy for when it’s wanted most, however far more must be carried out to help funding within the expertise.
“We all know that six initiatives at the moment below improvement in Scotland will greater than double the UK’s pumped storage hydro capability to 7.7GW, create nearly 15,000 jobs and generate as much as £5.8 billion for the UK financial system by 2035.