Drax has secured planning permission to build its 600MW Cruachan 2 hydroelectric plant in Scotland.
The pumped storage scheme will be built as an expansion of the company’s existing 440MW hydro facility of the same name in Argyll and Bute, located within the Ben Cruachan mountain.
Drax says it would be the first newly constructed plant of its kind in the UK in more than 40 years and could be operational by 2030.
It will feature reversible turbines to pump water from Loch Awe to an upper reservoir on the mountainside, where it will be stored and then released back to generate electricity when needed on the grid.
In their decision notice, Scottish Ministers said impacts associated with the development are considered “acceptable in the context of the benefits [it] will bring in terms of net economic benefit, and the addition of supporting infrastructure necessary to support the continued expansion of renewable energy developments”.
Drax submitted a Section 36 planning application for the site in May 2022. At the time, it said construction could get underway as early as 2024.