Scottish and Southern Energy’s £800m vision for hydro dam in Great Glen
Scottish and Southern Energy's hydro electric scheme at Glendoe. Picture: Jane Barlow
ENERGY giant Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has revealed ambitious plans to build Scotland’s biggest hydro-electric scheme in the heart of the Great Glen.
The company’s green energy division, SSE Renewables, has submitted a planning application to the Scottish Government to construct a 600-megawatt power scheme above Loch Lochy, with depths of 230ft the third deepest loch in Scotland. Under the plans for the new “pumped storage” hydro-electric scheme, a 300ft high dam would be built at Coire Glas, in the hills above the freshwater loch, creating a new reservoir in the glen.
During periods of low demand for power, electricity would be used to pump water from Loch Lochy to the upper reservoir. The water would then be released to create energy at a time of peak demand.
The company, however, has warned no final decision on the massive hydro scheme would be made before 2014 at the earliest and would be dependent on a “satisfactory regulatory framework”, including a change in the current transmission charging regime.
The proposed £800 million development at the western end of the Great Glen, near Spean Bridge, north of Fort William, was welcomed yesterday by Scotland’s renewable energy sector. A spokesman for Scottish Renewables said the project would strengthen Scotland’s portfolio of renewable energy sources.
He said: “Hydro-electricity has the quickest reaction time of any generation technology, whether that is renewable energy or traditional fossil-fuel generation. Pump storage is going to be crucial for balancing demand.”
A spokeswoman for SSE said the scheme would help meet peak demand and would be capable of extracting and storing up to 30 gigawatt hours of electricity, releasing energy to and from the electricity transmission system to help balance supply and demand for power at a national scale.
She said: “The scheme would be the largest hydro project to be built in Scotland and the first brand new pumped storage scheme to be developed in Great Britain since work began on the Dinorwig scheme in Wales in 1974.
“With a cost currently estimated at £800m it would also be one of the largest construction projects in Scotland.”
However, she added: “If the project receives consent, a final investment decision is unlikely to be taken before 2014 at the earliest, and progress of this scheme – and other similar developments – will be dependent upon a satisfactory public policy and regulatory framework, including a change in transmission charging regime.”
But environmental and hillwalkers’ organisations voiced concerns about the scheme.
Dave Morris, the director of Ramblers Scotland, branded the project a “white elephant”. He said: “There is little chance that the public funds will be found to build such an massive dam in an important wild land area.
“The future for wind farm development is offshore, especially off the east coast of England.
“A Loch Lochy hydro scheme would be in the wrong place, too far away from the offshore wind farms and, with little future for onshore wind farm development, as public subsidies for such development are slashed, there would be no use for the Loch Lochy scheme.
“I am surprised that SSE did not wait until 1 April [April Fools’ Day] to make this announcement.”
Helen McDade, the head of policy with the conservation body the John Muir Trust, also voiced concerns about the massive scheme. She said: “The John Muir Trust would need to see very good evidence that this scheme is justified for the country in that it would significantly improve the UK energy security of supply in the most cost-effective way. That economic case needs to be made even before the environmental impacts are considered.
“The impact on wild land will be very considerable and the John Muir Trust and others would need re-assured that the environmental impacts are justified. There is little evidence that the regulator, Ofgem, or the Department of Energy and Climate Change have done that work. Indeed, Ofgem is still consulting on aspects of this so the application is premature.”
SSE has set up a dedicated webpage as part of the consultation process.
According to the energy giant, the scheme will require the construction of a new dam and upper reservoir at Coire Glas above Loch Lochy.
A powerhouse complex would be constructed in an underground cavern, together with a series of tunnels to provide access and convey water between Loch Lochy and the new upper reservoir. An administration building and jetty would also be built on the shores of Loch Lochy.
The company said: “Once completed the scheme would have minimal visual impact in the Great Glen. It is envisaged that the construction period would last up to five years, with an average workforce of around 150 throughout this time.
“The Coire Glas Pumped Storage scheme would be unique when compared to other existing pumped storage schemes in the United Kingdom in its ability to extract and release energy to or from the electricity transmission system for a much longer period.
“It is estimated that this would be in the region of 50 hours continuous pumping or release which is far greater than the capacity of existing pumped storage schemes in the UK.”
SSE estimates that , following construction, there will be a surplus of approximately 450,000 cubic metres of excavated rock which will have to be disposed of somewhere.
Possible solutions include using some of the rock for constructing the dam and other infrastructure projects, or transporting the surplus material by barge to Fort William.
The area earmarked for the tunnel outlet is also in the vicinity of existing forestry roads which are incorporated in the Great Glen Way – a long distance route for walkers between Fort William and Inverness.
Two Munros, mountains over 3,000ft, are also in the area – Meall na Teanga (hill of the tongue) and Sron a Choire Ghairbh (rough corrie peak).
SSE said: “Where appropriate for safety, it is proposed to provide a new path to run parallel to the existing track to separate walkers and cyclists from the works, constructed to the same standard as the existing Great Glen Way. This path would be constructed at commencement of works and it is proposed that this would remain in place as a permanent diversion to this section of the Great Glen Way.”
The Great Glen is a series of glens running 100km from Inverness to Fort William.
• THE first successful public hydro-electricity scheme in Scotland was constructed in 1890 to power the Benedictine Abbey in Fort Augustus, at the west end of Loch Ness, and supply 800 village homes.
Hydro electricity is produced using the power of running water to turn turbines in power stations. The technology dates to the late 19th century when private hydro stations were built to smelt aluminium. It was another 40 years before the first large-scale scheme came in 1930 at Rannoch and Tummel Bridge in Perthshire.
Scottish Hydro Electric, then the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board and now part of the Scottish and Southern Energy Group, was established by an Act of Parliament in 1943.
SSE is now the UK’s largest hydro generator, with 1,450 megawatts of capacity including 300MW of pumped storage, or more than 65 per cent of UK capacity. SSE recently built the 100MW Glendoe station, at Loch Ness – the first large hydro station built in 50 years.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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Comments
There are 49 comments to this article
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Peter Dow
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 01:16 AMMy vision for a LARGER hydro dam at Coire Glas, Scotland than SSE's I am presenting here my vision for a large pumped storage hydroelectric 2-square kilometres surface-area reservoir and 300+ metre tall dam which I have designed for the Coire Glas site, Scotland. (View site using Google Earth where the convenient label is "Loch a' Choire Ghlais" - or, http:tinyurl.comcoireglas) I was inspired to conceive and to publish my vision by learning of the Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) proposal to build a smaller hydroelectric pumped-storage scheme at Coire Glas which has been presented to the Scottish government for public consultation. I have not long been aware of the SSE plan for the Coire Glas scheme, not being a follower of such matters routinely, but I was prompted by an earlier tangentially-related news story (about energy storage technology for renewable energy generators such as wind farms) to write to Members of the Scottish Parliament on the merits and urgency of new pumped storage hydroelectric power for Scotland on 14th February and a reply from Ian Anderson, the parliamentary manager for Dave Thomson MSP received the next day, the 15th February informed me about the SSE plan and Ian added "initially scoped at 600MW but, to quote SSE, could be bigger!" I replied to Ian "So the schemes proposed by the SSE are welcome and ought to be green-lighted and fast-tracked, but I am really proposing that Scots start thinking long term about an order of magnitude and more greater investment in pumped storage hydroelectric capacity than those SSE plans." So I had in mind "bigger would be better" but it was not until the next day on the 16th February when a news story informed me that the SSE plans had been submitted to the Scottish government for public consultation that I thought "this needs consideration now". So starting late on the night of the 17th, early 18th February and all through the weekend, I got busy, outlining my alternative vision for a far bigger dam and reservoir at the same location. So this is my vision as inspired by the SSE plan. If my vision is flawed then the fault is mine alone. If my vision is brilliant, then the brilliance too is mine. Image The black contour line at 550 metres elevation shows the outline of the SSE proposed reservoir of about 1 square kilometre surface-area and the grey thick line shows the position of the proposed SSE dam which would stand 92 metres tall and would be the tallest dam in Scotland and indeed Britain to date though it seems our dams are several times smaller than the tallest dams elsewhere in the world these days. Part of the red contour line at 775 metres elevation, where the red line surrounds a blue shaded area, blue representing water, shows the outline of my larger reservoir of about 2 square kilometres surface-area and the thicker brown line shows the position of my proposed dam which would stand 317 metres tall which would be one of the tallest man-made dams in the world. Enhanced satellite photograph Image Cross section of the Dow-dam The Dow-dam would be more than 3 times higher than the proposed SSE-dam. In this diagram, a horizontal line one third of the way up the Dow-dam indicates the relative height of the SSE dam although it is not aligned with this cross-section. Image Maps showing the line of cross-section viewed from each side Image Image Cross section of the Dow-dam reservoir Cross section along the major diameter of the elliptical excavation of the reservoir bed Image Excavated Reservoir Bed The green ellipse of major diameter of 1.5 kilometres and minor diameter of 1 kilometre represents an excavated reservoir bed, as flat and as horizontal as practical, at an elevation of 463 metres. Since an excavated reservoir bed is not, that I can see, part of the SSE plan, at any size, I will provide some more information about my vision for that now. The basic idea of excavating a flat or flattish reservoir bed is to increase the volume of the water stored in the reservoir because more water means more energy can be stored. Depending on the geology and strength of the rock of Coire Glas the walls of the reservoir bed perimeter could be as steep as vertical from the reservoir bed up to the natural elevation of the existing rock surface which would mean, presumably, blasting out rock to create a cliff which at places could be as much as about 290 metres tall. Near the dam, the reservoir bed perimeter wall would be only 40 metres or less tall. The further from the dam, the higher the wall will be and the more rock needs to be excavated. A vertical reservoir bed perimeter wall would be ideal to maximise reservoir volume wherever the geology provides a strong stone which can maintain a vertical wall face without collapse, (a stone such as granite perhaps). Where the geology only provides a weaker stone then a sloping perimeter wall at a suitable angle of repose for reliable stability would be constructed. So the reservoir perimeter wall could be as sloped as shallow as 45 degrees from the natural elevation at the perimeter of the eclipse sloping down to the reservoir bed at 463 metres elevation in the case of the weakest and most prone to collapse kinds of stone. Exactly how strong the stone is at each location I guess we'll only find out absolutely for sure if and when engineers start blasting it and testing the revealed rock wall face for strength. The shape of the perimeter of the excavated reservoir bed is not absolutely critical. So long as it ends up as a stable wall or slope, however it is shaped by the blasting, it will be fine. There is no need to have stone masons chip the perimeter smooth and flat! The ellipse is simply the easiest approximate mathematical shape to describe and to draw. If the end result is not a perfect ellipse, don't worry, it will be fine! OK, well I guess that's the vision part over. The rest is fairly straight-forward engineering I hope. Oh, and there is always getting the permission and the funding to build it of course which is never easy for anything this big. OK, well if anyone has any questions or points to make about my vision or can say why they think the SSE plan is better than mine, or if you don't see why we need any pumped storage hydroelectric scheme at Coire Glas, whatever your point of view, if you have something to add in reply, please do. http:(SLASH)(SLASH)scot.cyberhost.me(SLASH)forum{SLASH)viewtopic.php?p=2315#2315
Mark Bishop
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 07:49 PMIf I may... #32 Tested. You cannot rely on England for backup. By the time they have finished separating from us, we'll be lucky if they give us the time of day. If you listen to the numptie wind farm experts, we will be coining it in in billions from selling windfarm electricity at thrice the price. We'd be better off selling them water. '#33 The whole point about energy production for Scotland is that it is renewable. If you keep burning any kind of fossil fuel it wil run out eventually, perhaps you are not thinking that far ahead. #34 the whole point about nuclear fuel is that it is constant. 247. It is NOT like a light switch. It works all year round like proper hydro. Which brings me to my next point which is all the mills and infrastructure in Scotland already in place like the Gunpowder Mill in Roslin Glen. An expensive (heh did you expect anything else????) survey has been done to detail the work that is needed to get the mill working again. It is being closely guarded by Midlothian Council who are reluctant to give anything up at all *Awkward School* mentality. All hard stone mill races and the dam have been in place since the 1800's and will work. Just the mill wheel to be built and the dynamo to be installed plus cabling. Petition Midlothian Council and Scottish Power to get the damn thing working 247 for FREE as it did.
fred bloggs
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 08:53 PMTested you know nothing. We have had pumped storage for years long before there was large scale windpower to help balance the grid and to cut in when a generator set fails or any other sudden jump in demand or drop in supply.
ColinBattle
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 01:17 PMIn a small, crowded country, it is remarkable that a site has been found suitable for a large reservoir that is barely visible, is far from any areas designated for natural heritage or landscape importance, contains no ancient monuments, has no rights of way and is little-used for recreation. It's unlikely that any less obtrusive location for such a development exists anywhere in Britain.
tested
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 11:40 AM# 43 First we are managing quite well without this very expensive project which of course will be paid by the consumer. The only reason that it is being considered is in order to justify windpower which just goes to prove the inefficacy of this form of electricity generation. Please keep your nonsensical arguements about a current requirement for this project for the brain dead and apathetic it is windpower that requires this development. As for "anothermindless" rant this seems to be your view of anyone who doesn't sign up to your BS. You are quite happy to take our money to fatten your already gross profit margins but we also have to accept being ripped off in silence. Interesting take on customer relations. Maybe if you gave some substantial or compelling arguements instead of the usual half truths and cherry picking that has become synonomous with the wind industry then you might convince those of us who think you are just a bunch of two faced subsidy junkies who wouldn't know the truth if it ran up and bit you in the a*s.
tested
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 11:15 AM# 43 First we are managing quite well without this very expensive project which of course will be paid by the consumer. The only reason that it is being considered is in order to justify windpower which just goes to prove the inefficacy of this form of electricity generation. Please keep your nonsensical arguements about a current requirement for this project for the brain dead and apathetic it is windpower that requires this development. As for "anothermindless" rant this seems to be your view of anyone who doesn't sign up to your BS. You are quite happy to take our money to fatten your already gross profit margins but we also have to accept being ripped off in silence. Interesting take on customer relations. Maybe if you gave some substantial or compelling arguements instead of the usual half truths and cherry picking that has become synonomous with the wind industry then you might convince those of us who think you are just a bunch of two faced subsidy junkies who wouldn't know the truth if it ran up and bit you in the a*s.
Scots Renewables
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 01:43 PM@ 42 - tested We already have pumped storage at Cruachan in Argyll, Foyers on Loch Ness and at Dinorwig in Wales. The wind dropping off is not the only cause of variation in power availability - power stations have to be taken offline suddenly on occasion. Pumped storage can be switched to generation mode in seconds rather than minutes or hours. You are not the only person to use this project as an excuse for yet anothermindless rant about wind energy - the Ramblers Association made the same point in their rambling objection. However, both you and they are missing the point. Pumped storage is a good thing full stop, witih or without wind. We will always have surplus electricity at off-peak times, and pumping water uphill is a great way to use it, allowing us to store energy that would otherwise be wasted.
tested
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 10:16 AM#' 41 Fred" windpower employee" Bloggs "At times of low demand they can be 'recharged' with carbon-free surplus power from renewables". Of course that will totally depend on the availability of windpower, so another expensive and unreliable development. All this because the uselessness of wind as a power source is becoming obvious to all. In order to make even a fraction of it viable we need to spend a fortune building "batteries" and another fortune connecting them all together. The end costs to be bourne by the people of Scotland so that energy companies can increase their already exhorbitant profit margins. What idiot is dreaming this up?
fred bloggs
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:56 PM40. Pumped storage is essential to cover for the failure of a generator which can cause the instantaneous loss of typically 600MW - such a loss of power can be replaced in seconds by starting up a pumped storage station. They are also used to supplement output at times of high demand. At times of low demand they can be 'recharged' with carbon-free surplus power from renewables.
duelaynomore
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12:01 PMWhat I don't like about these schemes is that they don't actually produce anything new. In fact they are inefficient in that the energy required to pump the water up the hill exceeds the energy derived by its fall. Actually its just a very very expensive battery to store energy for when you want to use it. I support financing NEW energy sources, which are cost effective, not old technologies from the 19th century, supported by doidgey economics from the 20th century.....Its the same as boorowing money today at 5 % and then lending it out at 4% so that you can give people cheap money...eventually it does not work.
rabmccall
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12:08 AMHydro is the safest and cleanest power lets have lots more dams
tested
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 10:02 PM# 26 Bridgetthecat Nice to see you have maintained your incisive wit backed by your razor sharp intellect, keen observations and illuminating prose. Do you do it all yourself or does your mum help?
samcoldstream
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 03:35 PMAccording to the SSE website, plans for the 600 MW hydro-electric pump storage scheme in the Great Glen is only the first of several schemes already under consideration. (Source: Scottish & Southern Energy)
KINGFISHER1
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 03:06 PM14. Interresting to note you had identifed that point. My posts have been criticised elsewhere , suggesting that I am more than one sandwich short of a picnic; including the basket. I wonder what view the Loch Ness Monster will take on this on proposed development, in this sensitive area? I can't stand the useless wind farms,(and massives subsidies) and as for those at sea, I think the Atlantic will soon fix them!
Ron Greer
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 02:57 PMPump storage is producing at present 301Megawatts Hydro less than 500Mw----a wee bit to go then and a massive expansion required-----where?
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