Glen Earrach Energy will hold its first community engagement event on Friday 24 May after submitting a scoping request to the Scottish government for UK’s most efficient pumped storage hydro project.
Glen Earrach Energy was founded by Balmac Forest Limited with the sole focus of the proposed development and delivery of the UK’s most efficient pumped storage hydro facility on the Balmacaan Estate near Loch Ness.
In April, Glen Earrach Energy submitted a scoping request to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit and is beginning to engage with local communities, businesses, and government, as it seeks views on how best to integrate the project into the environment and the community.
International experts have identified Glen Earrach Energy’s PSH project as the most efficient in the UK, possibly even Europe. It will move water between two Lochs, Loch Breac Dearga and Loch Ness, acting like a giant water battery storing excess wind power when it is plentiful and releasing it when the wind dies down.
The £2 billion to £3 billion project, which leverages Loch Ness' unique geography, is being hailed as the most efficient of its type in the UK due to its topography, scale, and location.
With a substantial height difference exceeding 480 meters between the upper and lower lochs, it will maximize power generation while minimising its impact on Loch Ness water levels. This design ensures GEE’s project uses water more efficiently than any existing or proposed pumped storage project in the UK.
Central grid proximity to existing wind farms increases the potential efficiency of the project.
GEE’s facility will be capable of delivering up to 30 gigawatt-hours of clean energy – enough to power over a million fully decarbonised homes.
GEE’s PSH project will use water more efficiently than any other PSH proposal or existing facility on Loch Ness. Even for a very large amount of electricity storage (1,000MWh), Loch Ness’s water levels would only change by half an inch (1.4cm). It will also reduce the carbon footprint of the grid by 10% and save £2 billion in electricity grid running costs.
In a TV show that will explain the complex journey of the wastewater treatment process, Lakeside Equipment Corporation is set to feature in US Public Television’s All Access program with Andy Garcia.
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We are exhibiting at WWEM – Water, Wastewater and Environmental Management Expo, which is one of the eight exhibitions taking place at the NEC, Birmingham 17-18 September 2025 as part of ESS Expo 2025. Please come along and visit us at Stand WW-S60.
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