Lochan na h'Earba

Dave Windle

A very large pump storage scheme has been proposed for wild land south of Loch Laggan. The proposed project is described on the promoter's website, see gilkesenergy.com/projects

Proposed Earba storage project site © Mountaineering Scotland

It is very large and will be the biggest scheme in the UK, if it goes ahead. It will generate 1800MW and store 40GWh of energy. This is larger than SSE's Coire Glas scheme which will generate 1500MW and store 30GWh of energy.

Interestingly, the ongoing expansion at Cruachan will only store 7GWh. The Lochan na h'Earba scheme is definitely large.

Gilkes Energy has applied for planning permission. The documents are available for inspection on the ECU website at reference 00005062. Mountaineering Scotland has submitted preliminary comments

Their comments are carefully balanced. The proposed scheme will destroy a prized area of wild land, destroy the ambiance around three Munros and the Ardverikie Wall climbing site. However, we need increased energy storage to take full advantage of the growing number of wind farms. NEMT takes a similar position. We will not be objecting to the scheme as such, but we will be requesting that suitable mitigation measures are put in place.

Finally, there is a long way to go on this proposal. For comparison, SSE costs the Coire Glas scheme at £1.5 billion. Gilkes Energy is far too small to undertake such a project and, presumably, intends to sell the project to a larger company once planning approval is obtained.

Their comments are carefully balanced. The proposed scheme will destroy a prized area of wild land, destroy the ambiance around three Munros and the Ardverikie Wall climbing site. However, we need increased energy storage to take full advantage of the growing number of wind farms. NEMT takes a similar position. We will not be objecting to the scheme as such, but we will be requesting that suitable mitigation measures are put in place.

Finally, there is a long way to go on this proposal. For comparison, SSE costs the Coire Glas scheme at £1.5 billion. Gilkes Energy is far too small to undertake such a project and, presumably, intends to sell the project to a larger company once planning approval is obtained.

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