Intelligent Land Investments Group (ILI) has commenced the initial planning phase for its new 1.5 GigaWatt (GW) pumped storage hydro (PSH) project, Balliemeanoch, at Loch Awe in Argyll & Bute.
This is ILI’s third and largest PSH project. Its other PSH projects include 'Red John’ at Loch Ness, which was awarded planning consent from Scottish Ministers in June Last year, and ‘Corrievarkie’ at Loch Ericht for which they aim to submit a Section 36 planning application in August.
The new project would be able to supply 1.5GW of power for up to 30 hours, enough to power 4.5 million homes.
The project will create a new head pond in the hills above Loch Awe capable of holding 58 million cubic metres of water when full and it is estimated the project will offset more than 200 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over its lifetime.
Mark Wilson, chief executive at ILI Group, said: “Long-duration energy storage, storage over four hours in particular, is crucial to the UK's net zero ambitions. Without projects such as Balliemeanoch the renewable generation capacity in the country will soon hit a 'green glass ceiling' whereby adding more 'variable' renewable generation actually threatens grid stability and security of supply in our grid network.
"The benefits for these projects will extend beyond climate bringing over £3bn in construction investment into the UK and Scotland, creating thousands of new jobs just as we emerge from the COVID crisis.”
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