Renewable energy company Drax has announced plans to invest £80 million in renovating the Cruachan hydroelectric power station in Scotland to achieve a generation capacity of 480 MW.
Drax has appointed global hydropower technology provider ANDRITZ, which has previously installed approximately 470 GW of capacity, as prime contractor for the Cruachan upgrade project.
The project will see the generation capacity of two of the plant’s four units increased by a combined 40 MW, bringing the plant’s total generation capacity to 480 MW.
Work on site will begin in 2025, with ANDRITZ installing new main inlet valves and then carrying out power cuts for units 3 and 4 in 2026 and 2027 respectively.
Pumped storage facilities act like large water batteries, using reversible turbines to pump water from a lower reservoir to a higher reservoir, which stores excess energy from sources such as wind farms when supply exceeds demand.
These same turbines are then turned over to bring the stored water back through the plant to generate power when the country needs it.
Drax’s investment is supported by the award of a 15-year capacity market agreement worth approximately £221 million.
The Cruachan upgrade project is separate from Drax’s plan to build a new 600 MW pumped storage power station adjacent to the existing Cruachan facility; no investment decision has been made and the development remains subject to an appropriate regulatory framework.
The Cruachan site received development consent from the Scottish Government in December 2023 and was awarded a Capacity Market Agreement from the UK Government in February 2024.
Drax’s interim COO, Penny Small, said: “Pump-storage hydro is vital to Britain’s energy security; it is a technology that works together with renewable energy sources.
“These plants play a crucial role in stabilizing the electricity system and helping to balance supply and demand by storing excess energy. When wind turbines generate more energy than we need, Cruachan steps in to store the renewable electricity so it doesn’t go to waste.”
Managing director of ANDRITZ HYDRO Germany, Dominik Fust, said: “We are proud to have been entrusted with the renovation of the Cruachan Pump Storage Power Plant. This project is in line with our mission to contribute to the global transition to sustainable energy generation.”
This article first appeared in Solar Power Portal’s sister publication Current±.
