Glendoe Hydro Electric Scheme

RNS Number : 9478J

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC

11 December 2008

 



SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY PLC

GENERATION OF ELECTRICITY AT 

THE GLENDOE HYDRO ELECTRIC SCHEME

Scottish and Southern Energy plc ('SSE') has successfully generated for the first time the maximum 100MW of electricity for a full 24-hour period at its new Glendoe hydro electric scheme near Loch Ness.  

This means a key milestone has been reached in the process for testing the reliability of the electricity generation equipment at the scheme, in advance of it being formally commissioned and handed over to SSE's Generation Operations division, which is expected to take place later this month.  

Glendoe is the first large-scale conventional hydro electric station to be built in the UK since 1957, when the Errochty station in Perthshire, which has a capacity of 75MW, was opened.  

SSE Chief Executive Ian Marchant, who was at Glendoe this morning to see the near-completed scheme, said:

'I've been very pleased to see for myself such good progress at Glendoe and to see this important stage in the commissioning of the scheme being reached. I'm also pleased that it should coincide with the tenth anniversary of SSE being formed, which takes place this weekend.

'At that time, there was a risk that Scotland's hydro electric schemes would be left behind in the search for newer forms of green energy production. Since then, we have invested over £330m in refurbishing and developing hydro electric schemes in Scotland, giving this highly important technology a new lease of life.' 

      Enquiries to:

      Sharron Miller McKenzie - Press office Manager (SSE) [phone]

 

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