A BUYER has been found for a £250m hydro energy scheme at a former opencast coal mine in the south of Scotland involving one of Britain's biggest private landowners.

The eight-turbine wind farm and hydro park project at Glenmuckloch near Kirkconnel in Dumfries and Galloway was approved by planners more than six years ago and has been in the pipeline for over nine years.

Now Buccleuch and Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners have reached a deal for investment in the Glenmuckloch pumped storage hydro (PSH) and wind farm project to allow it to go ahead.

The land is owned by one of the UK’s most powerful hereditary landowners, the Duke of Buccleuch who have previously moved to defend plans to set up a wind farm despite his late father's opposition.

Buccleuch, the firm that runs the estates said two years ago that much of the background work had been carried out and all they were seeking was a buyer.

Permission was originally given for the scheme in 2016 but was set to run out.

It has now been given until 2027 to start and its operational life has been extended from 100 to 120 years.

Foresight's energy transition fund is to invest in and then lease the 1,547 acre site, with the aim of bringing the project to fruition.

It was estimated that the scheme would require hundreds of workers during construction then create up to 15 long-term jobs.

PSH releases water to pass through turbines or a series of turbines The Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) project was approved in November 2016 and works by releasing water from a higher waterbody to a lower one, passing it through one or more turbines to generate electricity.

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Water is then pumped back up the hill and stored in the upper reservoir until further electricity is required.

Buccleuch had been looking to sell the project plus an adjacent wind farm scheme which it said would "consign to history the black scar of previous mining activities".

Once constructed, the PSH plant will have a 1,600 MWh storage capacity which can be delivered at a rate of 210 MW per hour providing eight hours of storage capacity.

Payments to energy firms to switch off mainly Scottish wind farm turbines because they produce too much power have cost bill-payers approaching £1bn in just over five years and are expected to soar to £500m a year.

Because electricity cannot be stored and needs to be generated at the time of demand, compensation is given to energy firms when they have to reduce their output. With wind farms it involves turning off turbines when the network is unable to cope with the power they produce.

But the new hydro project will have the ability to store power for eight hours during periods of excess energy supply and release it at times of peak demand.

The wind farm made up of eight 4.2 MW turbines will have the ability, via a direct connection to power the PSH plant. Buccleuch says it marks the end of its day-to-day involvement in the project although it will retain ownership of the land.

The ninth Duke, Johnnie Buccleuch, who died in 2007 aged 83, said wind farms were inefficient as well as being a blot on the landscape.

In 2013 his son, Richard, now 68, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch objected to a 17-turbine wind farm near Hermitage Castle near Hawick as "nothing short of vandalism".

But in the same year he was supportive of his plans for the wind farm and hydro power park on the mine site and it had been hoped it would be producing energy by 2015.

John Glen, chief executive of Buccleuch Estates, said at the time that a key reason the late Duke was against wind farms was their impact on the landscape, but on this occasion they were restoring an industrial landscape, and the community was in favour of turbines.

"The other reason the Duke opposed wind power was that it was intermittent," he said.

Mr Glen said: "If we can blend wind with hydro then we have resolved that."

After the collapse of mining operator ATH Resources in 2013, Buccleuch said it had worked tirelessly to avert a potential environmental calamity at the site and in conjunction with a range of partners, has "restored the site and then planned a long-term future for Glenmuckloch that should provide social, economic and environmental benefits for decades to come".

Benny Higgins, executive chairman of Buccleuch said: “Buccleuch has long spoken of the immense potential for a PSH and windfarm project at Glenmuckloch, a project which has been wholly privately funded.

"The project could have an incredibly positive impact on local communities, and also at a national level as we face the climate crisis. I am delighted that we have reached a deal with Foresight, who will take the projects forward onto the next steps and, ultimately, to energy generation.

"Our appreciation goes to local communities and stakeholders who have supported us over the last decade and allowed us to get the project to a stage where it can enter its next phase.”

The Duke of Buccleuch, a hereditary title dating to 1663, was once the UK’s largest private landowner, and the family still holds 217,000 acres of moorland, farms and forestry, and a £250m urban property portfolio.

The family’s homes include Drumlanrig castle, an estate dating back to the reign of Robert the Bruce, and the Boughton estate in Northamptonshire.