Gilkes Energy and SSE have announced plans to jointly progress the Fearna Pumped Storage Hydro scheme.
The Fearna Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) project is located at the western end of Glengarry around 25km west of Invergarry and envisages the development of tunnels and a new power station connecting SSE Renewables’ existing reservoir at Loch Quoich with an upper reservoir at Loch Fearna.
Under the terms of the joint venture being announced today, the Gilkes Energy team will lead the project’s development phase.
It is envisaged the proposed development would be up to 1.8GW in generating capacity and capable of producing around 37GWh of stored energy capacity making it, alongside our Earba project one of the two largest such developments in the UK in terms of installed capacity and energy stored.
Fraser Allison, Project Director of the Fearna project, said:
“We are delighted to announce the joint venture with SSE Renewables which will develop the Fearna Pumped Storage project.
The Fearna site is well-suited for PSH, with favorable topography and geology. With a high elevation between the upper and lower lochs and short tunnels, the Fearna project promises to be very cost competitive relative to other PSH project developments in the UK.
The Fearna PSH project re-uses Loch Quoich as its lower reservoir, which was dammed in the 1950’s for SSE’s Quoich Hydro project. We feel therefore that the Fearna project represents the next chapter in Scotland’s hydro journey, by re-using the engineering excellence of the past to tackle the challenges of the future and leaving a lasting renewable legacy for future generations.”
