The Scottish government’s Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning, Joe Fitzpatrick, has visited Drax’s “Hollow Mountain” Cruachan Power Station.
He toured the plant to understand the “critical role” the facility plays in enabling more renewable power to come online.
Cruachan is an underground pumped hydro storage power station built in a hollowed-out cavern 1km inside Argyll’s highest mountain Ben Cruachan.
Constructed in 1965, its reversible turbines are still at the cutting edge of energy storage technology, enabling the plant to act like a giant water battery.
As part of the visit, Drax Group’s director of Scottish assets Ian Kinnaird, outlined the company’s work on plans to build a new second underground pumped hydro storage power station at the complex.
Drax is progressing plans to build a new 600MW underground plant adjacent to its existing underground Cruachan facility.
Increasing the UK’s pumped storage hydro capacity is critical to enabling more wind and solar power to come online, strengthening the country’s energy security while helping Scotland and the UK to decarbonise.
“Cruachan plays a critical role in stabilising the electricity system, balancing supply and demand by storing excess power from the national grid,” Kinnaird said.
“When Scotland’s wind turbines are generating more power than we need, Cruachan steps in to store the renewable electricity so it doesn’t go to waste.
“Drax has exciting plans to more than double Cruachan’s generating capacity, a project that will support new green jobs and help our homes and businesses go greener by bringing more renewable power online.”
Fitzpatrick added: “Scotland has a proud history of hydro power and currently accounts for around 88% of total UK capacity.
“Our recently adopted National Planning Framework 4 is clear about the importance of pumped hydro storage and continues its designation as a national development.
“Scotland’s facilities have the potential to play a significantly greater role in the energy transition, while contributing to the resilience of electricity supply and creating jobs in rural locations.
“We continue to press the UK government to ensure that the appropriate market and regulatory arrangements are put in place to support the further development of hydro projects.”