Latest news with #CruachanII
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Major hydro power plant expansion put on hold
The operator of an underground power station at Scotland's "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". The existing underground power station was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1965. At the time, it was the first large-scale reversible turbine storage energy project of its kind in the world. It is housed within a huge cavern dug out inside Ben Cruachan, which is nicknamed Hollow Mountain because of the project. Drax had proposed investing £500m in the construction project over seven years. Last year, it completed initial design and engineering work for a 600MW expansion of Cruachan. The company said: "Drax believes that the Cruachan II project is well aligned with the long-term system need for flexible generation and energy storage and, given its location, is well placed to support system constraints between Scotland and England." It added: "Drax remains committed to disciplined capital expenditure which seeks to balance the risk and return of individual projects against other uses of capital, to maximise value." Scenes for Star Wars series Andor were filmed at Cruachan. The makers of the show said the underground power station - and its 316m (1,037ft), 46m (15ft) long dam - had the look it had been aspiring to capture for an episode called The Eye. P roduction designer Luke Hull told BBC Scotland News in 2022: "If you look at the dam, it looks like Darth Vader's mask." More on this story Related internet links
Bloomberg
01-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Drax Pauses Plans for Crucial Energy Storage Site as Costs Rise
Drax Group Plc paused plans to upgrade a pumped storage facility in Scotland, dealing a blow to the UK government's drive to develop a clean-power grid. The government set up a subsidy mechanism to bolster long duration storage projects — such as the 600 megawatt Cruachan II — which are key to its clean power strategy. Drax said it won't participate in the first phase of that plan because of rising costs and uncertainty over the return on capital investments.
