Agenda: Hydro power is our heavy artillery in the war on climate change

The biggest challenge is the rocky transition from fossil fuels to renewables and other green energy sources.

With an abundance of wind and water, Scotland is in the frontline of a war that will determine the future of our planet.

The Government says it is committed to achieving 100% renewables but they have yet to fully address a fundamental practical problem, one that cannot be resolved by fine words on “ambitions” and “goals”. How do we keep the lights on when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine? Without finding a way to store energy to handle the peaks and troughs of intermittent renewables, it will be impossible for the UK to reduce dependence on gas and coal-fired power plants.

There is a solution here in Scotland, one that helps deliver on climate change, guarantees a consistent supply of power and could generate 10,000 jobs and inject £3billion into the economy.

Hydroelectricity has been part of our landscape since 1934 when the Laggan Dam was built to provide power for aluminium smelting plants at Kinlochleven and Lochaber.

Today, Scotland is a world leader in pumped hydro storage – the heavy artillery in the war against climate change. Pumped storage turns electrical energy into stored (or potential) energy and back again to electrical energy. Electricity pumps water from a lower reservoir to a higher reservoir at times when there is more energy being produced on the grid network than is needed. This energy is stored until it is required, when the water is allowed to flow back through a hydro-turbine, generating electricity to meet sudden or predicted spikes in demand.

Planned projects include SSE’s 1500MW Coire Glas near Loch Lochy in the Highlands, Buccleuch’s 400MW at Glenmuckloch in Dumfries and Galloway and ILI Group’s 450MW Red John on Loch Ness. Drax has just signed a six-year deal with the National Grid for Cruachan.

However, while the long-term benefits are clear, the upfront costs of construction are a barrier for investors. The Government needs to reform the market to encourage investors by setting a floor price – a minimum return – for pumped hydro storage.

At the moment these projects are “stranded”. Yes, politicians have bought into the necessity for green storage, however, that vision needs to be backed up by decisive action to unlock investment.

Immediate market reforms will kick-start construction work; doubling storage capacity, creating thousands of jobs and boosting the economy as we emerge from Covid-19.

It will also be key to achieving those big, audacious climate change targets.

These game-changing pumped hydro projects rank alongside the Forth bridges in terms of scale and ambition. And they will take time. But John Kerry says time is running out. He says we have just nine years left to do what the science is telling us to do.

The Government needs to match its vision with urgent action now – and unlock the potential of Scotland’s water to tackle a global crisis.

Mark Wilson is CEO of ILI Group