generation
A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and gr ...
of
hydro-electric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
power is located near
Fort Augustus
Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001). Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism.
History
The Gaeli ...
, above
Loch Ness
Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claim ...
in the
Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
.
The scheme is operated by
Scottish and Southern Energy
SSE plc (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy plc) is a multinational energy company headquartered in Perth, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. SSE operates in the United Kingdom and ...
(SSE) and was opened on 29 June 2009 by Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh.
Scheme details
Glendoe's 600 m head (the drop from the reservoir to the turbine) is the highest of any hydro electric scheme in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and is thus ideally suited to generating large amounts of energy from the stored water in the
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
, especially when combined with the relatively high annual rainfall in the area of around 2,000 mm. The Andritz six-jet vertical axis Pelton turbine at Glendoe is capable of generating up to 100 MW, with a peak flow of 18.6m³/s.
It is the largest of Scotland's recent civil engineering projects, with
Hochtief
Hochtief AG is a German construction company based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.GWh of electricity per year, enough to provide approximately 5% of the electricity consumption of the city of Glasgow. This gives an overall load factor of approximately 20%.
The immediate catchment of 15 km2 is supplemented by a further 60 km2 connected to the scheme by an underground network of pipes and tunnels, and this is fed into the reservoir on the upper reaches of the River Tarff. The dam, a 905-metre-long concrete-faced rock-filled embankment reaching a height of 35 metres above the valley floor, is hidden from view from all current houses and public roads in the area.
The scheme includes a number of tunnels. An 8.6 km tunnel brings water from diversion intakes to the reservoir. An 8 km long 5m diameter tunnel carries the water to the turbine and out into Loch Ness. This was excavated by a 220m long tunnel boring machine (TBM), that was named "Eliza Jane" after a competition for local schoolchildren. Finally, an access tunnel of 1.3 km in length services the turbine and power station cavern, from the B862 above
Fort Augustus
Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001). Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism.
History
The Gaeli ...
.
The power station itself, 2 km from Loch Ness and containing the turbine and generator units, is housed in a large cavern a quarter of a kilometre below the hillside, adjacent to a smaller cavern containing the main transformer.
Station shutdown
In August 2009 the station was shut down and the power tunnel drained because of internal rock falls near the head of the tunnel. Although the equipment in the power station was not affected, Glendoe was unable to generate power until repairs were made. SSE reported that electricity generation was unlikely to proceed until well into 2012. The repairs involved construction of a bypass tunnel and a downstream access tunnel. The contract for the repair work was awarded to
BAM Nuttall
BAM Nuttall Limited (formerly known as Edmund Nuttall Limited) is a construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Camberley, United Kingdom. It has been involved in a portfolio of road, rail, nuclear, and other major projects worldw ...
. SSE issued proceedings seeking to recover £130 million in repair and reinstatement costs and £65 million in alleged loss of profit from Hochtief, who constructed the original tunnel, but in a Judgment (Opinion) published in December 2016 Hochtief was held by the Scottish Court of Session not to have been liable for the collapse. In an appeal decided in 2018, SSE were awarded more than £107 million in compensation. The judges hearing the appeal split 2–1 in SSE's favour.
Energy generation at the scheme restarted in August 2012.