First Minister calls on UK Government to offer help for energy storage
Energy agency Drax has been given permission to develop the brand new underground pumped storage hydro plant at Cruachan, Argyll and Bute – the positioning of the same facility owned by the corporate – by the Scottish Government.
Bosses say the brand new centre would carry the positioning’s era capability to multiple gigawatt and help 1,000 jobs throughout the provision chain.
Both Drax and the Scottish Government have referred to as on the UK to introduce a “cap and floor” regime for such energy stations, making certain a minimal degree of assured income and thus certainty for initiatives to go forward.
The agency, nevertheless, has mentioned it is not going to start improvement at Cruachan till a regulatory framework is put in place to help it.
Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner mentioned: “This is a major milestone in Drax’s plans to build Britain’s first new pumped storage hydro plant in a generation.
“These plants play a critical role in stabilising 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 will invest c.£500 million to more than double Cruachan’s generating capacity and support almost 1,000 jobs across the supply chain during construction.”
Mr Yousaf mentioned: “Hydro power has real potential to play a greater role in our transition to net zero and to help ensure a resilient and secure electricity supply across the UK.
“The expansion of Cruachan will help to strengthen our energy security by providing much-needed resilience in the system, supporting hundreds of jobs and providing a real boost to the Scottish economy.
“However, we know that there remain a number of challenges in developing new hydro power projects in Scotland.
“The Scottish Government will continue to urge the UK Government to provide an appropriate market mechanism for hydro power and other long duration energy storage technologies, to ensure that the potential for hydro power is fully realised.”
The First Minister in May wrote to Rishi Sunak urging him to introduce a cap and ground mechanism for related initiatives.