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UK Power Group Drax Submits Plans for Scottish Hydro Project

May 17, 2022. By News Bureau

Drax, a British power firm, announced on Tuesday that it has applied to develop a new 500 million pound ($613 million) underground pumped storage hydropower station at its current Cruachan hydro facility in Scotland.

Pumped hydro plants generate energy by pumping water uphill to an upper reservoir and then releasing it to allow water to flow downhill through turbines when needed.

The technology's developers claim that it can help balance out the growing amount of renewable electricity on the grid by pumping water with surplus renewable energy when demand is low and storing it till the demand is high.

"When the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining this is when you need your long-duration energy storage to kick in and fill that gap," Ian Kinnaird, Drax's Scottish Assets Director, told Reuters in an interview.

He estimates that the planning permission will take about a year, and that building on the 600-megawatt facility will begin in 2024 and last around six years.

Kinnaird stated that the corporation would require government market assistance to proceed with the 500 million pound investment required to complete the project.

He said the corporation was looking for help similar to the cap and floor system used to incentivize power interconnectors between countries, which establishes the minimum return developers may expect while also limiting the amount of money they can make.

The British government's Energy Strategy, released last month, stated that it was working to build suitable legislation to encourage long-term energy storage investment.

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