SSE Renewables has announced that it will invest £70 million to upgrade Lochay Hydropower Station to extend its operational lifespan.
Lochay Hydro Power Station, located in Perthshire, Scotland, is a 45MW hydroelectric power station which was commissioned in 1958 and currently delivers around 170GWh of renewable electricity each year.
Now, SSE Renewables is planning to invest £70 million over the next three years to repower the station and extend its operational lifespan by at least another 40 years. The refurbishment works, which will commence in April 2025, will see all the main generation components in the station being replaced with more efficient modern technologies, which will increase the station’s power output without needing to increase the volume of water flowing through the turbines. According to SSE, all the existing buildings and civil infrastructure of the site will be retained as part of the refurbishments.
To complete the refurbishment works, SSE Renewables will be engaging a number of local contractors, including Voith Hydro, a leading manufacturer of hydropower turbines and generators; AJT Engineering, a designer of self-closing valves; Stantec, a hydro power plant designer based in Edinburgh; and Global Infrastructure, an Inverness-based civil engineering and construction firm. At peak, the refurbishment is expected to support up to 80 jobs, and the works are expected to be completed in 2028, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the hydropower station.
Robert Bryce, director of hydro, SSE Renewables said: “The announcement of a £70 million refurbishment programme for Lochay Power Station further cements hydro’s vital role in the path to achieving UK and Scottish net zero carbon emissions targets, whilst supporting the wider industry supply chain.
“As with many of our hydro stations, Lochay has been a key part of the energy landscape for generations and this latest chapter will ensure it remains so for decades to come.”
SSE Renewables’ hydro ambitions
As well as this hydroelectric power plant, SSE Renewables has been heavily involved in another type of hydro project in Scotland, this time focusing on pumped hydro energy storage (PHES).
In July of last year, SSE Renewables revealed plans to create a 1.8GW PHES project at Loch Fearna, Scotland, developing tunnels and a new power station to connect its existing reservoir at Loch Quoich with an upper reservoir at Loch Fearna. If this project is approved, it could create around 37GWh of stored energy capacity, and be capable of exporting energy for 20 hours at a rate of 1.8GW. SSE has stated that, subject to a final investment decision, the project could reach commercial operations as soon as the mid-2030’s.
Other companies are also developing pumped hydro storage in the north of Scotland. Developer Statkraft is currently in the pre-construction phase of its 450MW Loch na Cathrach pumped storage hydro project, which a recent study by the University of the Highlands and Islands found could create as many as 500 jobs during the peak of the construction period.
Meanwhile, Drax is also pursuing a new pumped storage hydro project in Scotland. The proposed 600MW Hollow Mountain power station will be built underground, inside Argyll’s highest mountain, Ben Cruachan. This development will be located next to Drax’s existing PHES station Cruachan, and will share the existing upper reservoir which holds around 2.4 billion gallons of water.
