Plans at Ben Cruachan for UK’s first new power plant in 40 years

A new power plant at Ben Cruachan will create 150 new jobs at the Loch Awe facility if plans submitted on Tuesday May 17 are approved.

 

Renewable energy company Drax claims its proposed expansion of Cruachan power station will support around 900 jobs during six years of construction across the supply chain.

 

The application for planning consent to build a new underground pumped storage hydro power station would more than double the electricity generating capacity at the iconic ‘Hollow Mountain’ Cruachan facility.

 

The new power station could be operational by 2030, with construction work removing around two million tonnes of rock from inside Ben Cruachan getting underway in 2024.

 

The development – which would be the first newly constructed plant of its kind in the UK in more than 40 years – will increase the site’s total capacity to 1.04GW.

 

The plant would be housed within a new, hollowed-out cavern made by excavating millions of tonnes of rock to create the cavern, tunnels, and other parts of the power station.

 

Cruachan’s generating units are housed inside the mountain.

 

The power system acts like a giant water battery and uses reversible turbines to pump water from Loch Awe to the upper reservoir on the mountainside to store excess power from wind farms and other low carbon technologies when supply outstrips demand and then use this stored water to generate renewable power when it is needed.

 

Scottish Renewables chief executive Claire Mack said: 'Pumped storage hydro is a critical technology needed to meet net zero.

 

'Over the last decade we have managed to develop the technologies to decarbonise the power system such as wind and solar, but what we really need now is greater flexibility to fully optimise those technologies.

 

'That’s why the success of long-duration storage projects such as Cruachan 2 is absolutely vital to Scotland and the whole of the UK.'

 

In order to deploy this technology Drax is required to secure consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 from the Scottish government – a process which will take around one year to complete from the application’s submission.

 

Alongside a successful Section 36 application, the project will also require an updated policy and market support mechanism from the UK Government.

 

Drax’s Scottish assets director Ian Kinnaird, said: 'Drax’s plan to expand Cruachan will strengthen the UK’s energy security by enabling more homegrown renewable electricity to come online to power homes and businesses across the country, helping to end our reliance on imports and cut costs.

 

'This major infrastructure project will support hundreds of jobs and provide a real boost to the Scottish economy. Only by investing in long-duration storage technologies can the UK reach its full renewable potential, and Drax is ready to move mountains to do just that.'

 

The plans for Cruachan 2 were commended by former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who said: 'Within the climate crisis the world is facing an ignored crisis – how to ensure that we do not fall back on fossil fuels when the wind isn’t blowing, and the sun isn’t shining.

 

'We need green energy security solutions, and Drax’s plans to expand Cruachan will enable the UK to enhance its energy security and enable more renewable power to come online.'