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Cruachan Power Station
The Cruachan Power Station (also known as the Cruachan Dam) is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK. The scheme can provide 440 MW of power and produced 705 GWh in 2009.
The turbine hall is located inside Ben Cruachan, and the scheme moves water between Cruachan Reservoir and Loch Awe, a height difference of 396 m (1,299 ft). It is one of only four pumped storage power stations in the United Kingdom, and is capable of providing a black start capability to the National Grid.
Construction began in 1959 to coincide with the Hunterston A nuclear power station in Ayrshire. Cruachan uses cheap electricity generated at night to pump water to the higher reservoir, which can then be released during the day to provide power as necessary. The power station is open to visitors, and around 50,000 tourists visit it each year.
The power station is on the A85 road, about 8 km (5.0 miles) west of Dalmally, on a branch of Loch Awe leading to the River Awe, which is the outflow from the loch, at its north west corner. There is a seasonally open Falls of Cruachan railway station nearby.
Construction commenced in 1959, and the power station was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 15 October 1965. The concept was designed by Sir Edward MacColl, who died before it opened. The civil engineering design of the scheme was carried out by James Williamson & Partners of Glasgow, and the main project contractors were William Tawse of Aberdeen and Edmund Nuttall of Camberley. Consulting electrical engineers were Merz & McLellan of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the peak of the construction, there were around 4,000 people working on the project. Thirty-six men died in the construction of the power station and dam. The cost of the scheme was £24.5 million.
Cruachan was one of the first reversible pumped-storage systems, where the same turbines are used as both pumps and generators. Previous pumped-storage systems used separate pumps with a network of pipes to return water to the upper reservoir, making them more expensive to build than conventional hydroelectric systems. Cruachan is pre-dated by the smaller 232 megawatts (311,000 hp) Lünerseewerk (de) (Austria, 1958) and the 360 megawatts (480,000 hp) Ffestiniog Power Station (Wales, 1963). It is one of four pumped storage schemes in the United Kingdom.
Its construction was linked to that of Hunterston A nuclear power station, to store surplus night-time nuclear-generated electrical energy. The power station was originally operated by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, before being transferred to the South of Scotland Electricity Board. It was owned by ScottishPower from the privatisation of Britain's electricity industry in 1990 until Drax Group purchased it along with other ScottishPower assets on 1 January 2019.
Maintenance of the penstocks, which formerly required them to be drained, is now done using a remotely operated underwater vehicle.
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Cruachan Power Station
The Cruachan Power Station (also known as the Cruachan Dam) is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK. The scheme can provide 440 MW of power and produced 705 GWh in 2009.
The turbine hall is located inside Ben Cruachan, and the scheme moves water between Cruachan Reservoir and Loch Awe, a height difference of 396 m (1,299 ft). It is one of only four pumped storage power stations in the United Kingdom, and is capable of providing a black start capability to the National Grid.
Construction began in 1959 to coincide with the Hunterston A nuclear power station in Ayrshire. Cruachan uses cheap electricity generated at night to pump water to the higher reservoir, which can then be released during the day to provide power as necessary. The power station is open to visitors, and around 50,000 tourists visit it each year.
The power station is on the A85 road, about 8 km (5.0 miles) west of Dalmally, on a branch of Loch Awe leading to the River Awe, which is the outflow from the loch, at its north west corner. There is a seasonally open Falls of Cruachan railway station nearby.
Construction commenced in 1959, and the power station was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 15 October 1965. The concept was designed by Sir Edward MacColl, who died before it opened. The civil engineering design of the scheme was carried out by James Williamson & Partners of Glasgow, and the main project contractors were William Tawse of Aberdeen and Edmund Nuttall of Camberley. Consulting electrical engineers were Merz & McLellan of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the peak of the construction, there were around 4,000 people working on the project. Thirty-six men died in the construction of the power station and dam. The cost of the scheme was £24.5 million.
Cruachan was one of the first reversible pumped-storage systems, where the same turbines are used as both pumps and generators. Previous pumped-storage systems used separate pumps with a network of pipes to return water to the upper reservoir, making them more expensive to build than conventional hydroelectric systems. Cruachan is pre-dated by the smaller 232 megawatts (311,000 hp) Lünerseewerk (de) (Austria, 1958) and the 360 megawatts (480,000 hp) Ffestiniog Power Station (Wales, 1963). It is one of four pumped storage schemes in the United Kingdom.
Its construction was linked to that of Hunterston A nuclear power station, to store surplus night-time nuclear-generated electrical energy. The power station was originally operated by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, before being transferred to the South of Scotland Electricity Board. It was owned by ScottishPower from the privatisation of Britain's electricity industry in 1990 until Drax Group purchased it along with other ScottishPower assets on 1 January 2019.
Maintenance of the penstocks, which formerly required them to be drained, is now done using a remotely operated underwater vehicle.