By lyndamyer
In order to providing consultancy services for the expansion of its Cruachan pumped storage hydro power station in Argyll, Scotland, Cowi has concluded a contract by renewable energy company Drax.
Being located in a new cavern, to the east of Drax’s existing 440MW pumped storage hydro station beneath Ben Cruachan, the expansion project with £500m value is known as Cruachan 2. Additionally, the project is going to bring an extra 600MW of power, increasing the site’s total capacity to over 1GW.
The process of advice on the geotechnical, tunneling and jetty / marine structures in advance of the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED), will be up to Cowi working with the owner’s engineer, Italian civil engineering company Studio Pietrangeli. Cowi will also use its rail experience to provide input on the railway line beneath which Cruachan 2’s new access and tailrace tunnels will run.
The scheduled date for commencing work on Cruachan 2 is 2025 and the new plant is slated to be connected to the national grid by 2030.
According Cowi UK managing director Andy Sloan: “Scotland was undergoing a hydro-pumped storage renaissance. There’s a profound opportunity for hydroelectric developments in the UK, particularly in Scotland, which will not only address our need for long-term storage in the UK energy market but support our journey to net-zero by 2045.”
“Pumped storage hydro plants played a critical role in stabilizing the electricity system, helping to balance supply and demand through storing excess power from the national grid. 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. With the right support from the UK government, Drax is ready to invest around £500m to more than double Cruachan’s generating capacity,” said Drax development manager Steve Marshall.
