09/08/2024 - Tunnelling works at the Coire Glas pumped storage hydropower scheme in the Scottish Highlands.
SSE has reached a major milestone on its Coire Glas pumped storage hydropower scheme with the completion of exploratory tunnelling in the Scottish Highlands. The 1.3 GW Coire Glas project is set to be the first large-scale pumped storage scheme developed in the UK in 40 years.
The Scottish government gave its approval to the project, situated in the Great Glen near Loch Lochy, in 2020. Once complete, the scheme will provide 30 GWh of long duration electricity storage, enough to power around three million British homes.
Using excess energy from the grid, SSE will pump water 500 metres uphill from Loch Lochy to an upper reservoir created by the construction of a 90 metre high dam. The reservoir will store enough water to fill 11,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, which can be released when wind power output is low and electricity demand is high. Work started on the 1.2km tunnel in 2022, and SSE said it could spend up to £1.5 billion on constructing Coire Glas given “the right market investment framework”.
Approximately five metres high and four and a half metres wide, the tunnel cuts into the hillside around the proposed site of the underground powerhouse complex. SSE said the construction will help gather accurate information on the geological conditions to inform the detailed design for the main works. SSE Renewables said it hopes to make a final investment decision on the project in late 2025 or early 2026.
The decision rests on the firm being successful in the “administrative allocation of an investable cap and floor mechanism”. The UK government is currently developing the mechanism, which is similar to the Contracts for Differences scheme, to overcome investment barriers in energy storage.
Alongside pumped hydro, other eligible technologies include flow batteries, compressed air and liquid air energy storage systems. If the project gets the go ahead, SSE said main construction at Coire Glas could start in the second half of 2026. SSE Renewables director of development for Coire Glas Mike Seaton said completing the tunnelling is a “positive step forward in de-risking the project”.
“The works progressed to plan, and samples of the materials excavated from within the hillside are currently being analysed,” Seaton said. More of this article (Energy Voice) - link - more like this (pumped hydro) - link - more like this (Scotland) - link - more like this (SSE) - link
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