Pumped Storage Hydro

Scottish Energy Minister calls on government to support new pumped storage hydro

Scottish Energy Minister calls on government to support new pumped storage hydro

Neil Gray MSP, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Energy, has called on the UK Government to give developers the certainty they need to invest in a new generation of pumped storage hydro plants, a move that could create almost 15,000 jobs and enable more renewable electricity to come online.

Gray gave his backing to the industry while visiting Drax’s 440 MW Cruachan Power Station near Oban in Argyll, where the company is progressing plans to build a new £500 million (US$637.2 million) underground pumped storage hydro plant. Expanding the UK’s pumped storage hydro capacity is crucial to integrating more wind and solar power onto the energy grid, enhancing the nation’s energy security while tackling climate change, Drax said.

Despite the critical need for them, no new pumped storage hydro plants have been commissioned in the UK since 1984, with support schemes for other technologies unsuitable for the unique needs of these large-scale infrastructure projects. A report by KPMG found that a cap and floor mechanism, like the regime used to incentivize investment in cross-border interconnectors, could overcome the hurdles blocking investment in long-duration storage technologies.

“To achieve a safe and secure net zero power grid, we need to have a new generation of pumped storage hydro plants to balance our grid,” said Ian Kinnaird, Drax’s Scottish assets director. “As the UK increasingly relies on intermittent renewables to keep our lights on, there is a growing need for flexible power sources to plug the gap when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine. With its reversible turbines, Cruachan can also store excess power from Scotland’s wind turbines when they are generating more renewable electricity than we need, helping to stop valuable green power from going to waste.”

Gray said: “Scotland is a global leader in the production of renewable energy, which will play an increasingly important role in the transition to a net zero electricity system by 2045. However, pumped hydro storage, an important low carbon technology, is currently ineligible for UK Government support. UK Government inaction on this issue represents a significant obstacle to progress and risks failing to secure economic benefits, such as creating thousands of good quality, green jobs.”

Earlier this year, a report commissioned by the trade body Scottish Renewables found that a new generation of pumped storage hydro plants in Scotland could create almost 15,000 jobs across the UK, with Drax’s 600 MW Cruachan expansion generating almost half a billion pounds for the economy. Drax acquired Cruachan alongside the Galloway and Lanark hydro schemes in 2019.

Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero-carbon, lower-cost energy future. In 2019, the company announced an ambition to be carbon negative by 2030, using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology.

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of renewable electricity generation assets in England and Scotland. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies 5% of the country’s electricity needs. Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include the Cruachan Power Station pumped storage facility.