Loch Ness hydro project to go before Highland councillors
Plans for one of three large hydro power schemes that would draw water from Loch Ness to generate electricity are to go before Highland councillors next week.Loch Kemp Storage Ltd has proposed building a power station and tunnels near Whitebridge, about 10 miles (16km) north of Fort Augustus.The Scottish government, which has a say on whether it eventually goes ahead or not, has consulted Highland Council on the project.The local authority's officials have recommended that the south planning applications committee does not raise any objections to the plans.
Loch Kemp is one of three different pumped storage hydro schemes proposed for near Loch Ness.The others are Statkraft's Loch na Cathrach, in the hills above Dores, and Glen Earrach Energy (GEE), near Drumnadrochit.They would also draw water from Loch Ness to help generate electricity for thousands of homes.
Pumped storage hydro involves two bodies of water at different heights. The water flows from one to the other through tunnels, passing through a power station to generate electricity.When there is low demand for electricity from consumers and/or when surplus power is available from wind farms, electricity is used to pump water from the lower level to fill a reservoir further up the hill.The water can then be released from the upper reservoir, flowing down the tunnels to drive turbines which generate hydro-electricity. This happens at times of high demand, or when there is not enough wind to power wind farms.Loch Kemp Storage Ltd, which is owned by Statera Energy, has proposed damming Loch Kemp, the upper reservoir of its scheme, to raise water levels.It also plans to construct an underground waterway systems and tunnels, and powerhouse on the shores of Loch Ness.
GEE has been holding community events this week as part of its work towards trying to secure consent for the 2GW project on Balmacaan Estate.The developer has made a commitment to deliver a community wealth fund of more than £20m a year throughout the lifetime of the scheme.A spokesperson said GEE was developing one of the UK's "largest and most water efficient" pumped storage hydro schemes.Loch na Cathrach, formerly known as Red John, was granted consent by the Scottish government in June 2021. The project was taken over by Statkraft in December 2023 and is in a pre-construction phase.
The UK has four existing pumped storage projects - Cruachan and Foyers in Scotland, and Dinorwig and Ffestiniog in Wales.However, a large-scale pumped storage scheme has not been built in the UK for more than 30 years.Foyers Power Station on Loch Ness opened in 1974, though hydro electricity has been generated in the area since the late 19th Century.Operator SSEN Transmission has proposed an extension to the switching station, which manages the flow of electricity from the site.A proposal of application notice was submitted to Highland Council in February.The operator of Cruachan - an underground power station dubbed "Hollow Mountain" - has put on hold its plans for a major expansion of the site.Renewables developer Drax had proposed building a new hydro-electric facility next to its existing complex inside Ben Cruachan, near Dalmally in Argyll.But it said the costs of the project had risen and it would not be bidding for UK government support at this time.The company said the expansion could potentially go-ahead in the future, "subject to an appropriate balance of risk and return".
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He said: 'There seem few locally who would oppose the CDLT's sale of the 22,000-acre South Sleat Estate. There are around 200 crofters there, but their rights are well enshrined in law, so it makes very little difference to them who the landlord is. 'But although many want to preserve Armadale Castle and grounds and the rest of the businesses, there is not a single building on that estate that doesn't need work. We've heard the suggestion about £4million worth of investment is needed to bring the grounds up to standard.' The ruined B-listed castle is currently off-limits to the public until remedial works can make it safe. 'We feel part of the problem is the trust is run by absentee trustees – at the moment, the closest one lives in Yorkshire,' said Dr Williamson. 'They've got no sense of this place, no idea of the community. They have no clue what's happening on a day-to-day basis.' His 'worst nightmare' would be a buyer trying to turn it into a private house: 'The risk is it gets split up or bought as a trophy by someone who doesn't really know and care about its significance. Perhaps they look to knock down the castle and build a big house.' Dr Williamson said it had been very hard to find out any information about the CDLT's intentions as its relationship with the community was 'effectively non-existent'. He said the community council had been barred from any local conversations around the future of the estate. Eyebrows have been raised at the failure of the CDLT to make a go of things given the largesse of its chief backer, the Glencoe Foundation, down the years. It has lavished CDLT with grants totalling more than £2million in the past five years alone, with almost £1million paid out in 2021, when the impact of the Covid pandemic was at its height. CDLT claimed the pandemic hammered income and was catastrophic for the estate. But Dr Williamson said: 'The pandemic was a problem for the tourism industry in Skye, but it bounced back. Equivalent attractions in the area are now thriving.' The current board of trustees, chaired by restaurateur, Ranald Macdonald of Boisdale and Younger of Clanranald, who operates the successful Boisdale group of restaurants in London, evidently disagrees. It wants to use the proceeds from both sales – roughly £9million – to reinvent the charity as a purely grant-giving body which, it says, will enable investment in the clan's heritage and culture long into the future. In an earlier statement, it said: 'The CDLT visitor business has incurred losses every year since the centre opened. Sadly, this funding is no longer available.' In a further statement to the Daily Mail, it added: 'Whilst we have empathy with the emotional response from a minority of individuals, we reiterate the fact that the trustees in all their actions have acted in the legally correct interests of the trust.' The trust said it aims to retain the archive and library and create a 'world-class immersive, interactive digital platform' to display its collection. But battle lines have been drawn. This clan feud has only just begun.
