Scottish utility SSE is about to put forward plans for a new hydroelectric project in the heart of the Highlands for public scrutiny before a planning application to Scottish ministers.
SSE wants to instal a pumped storage scheme, with capacity of up to 600 megawatts (MW) – enough electricity to power as many as 238,000 homes – at Balmacaan, west of Loch Ness.
Local communities could benefit from SSE funding for new amenities or educational, charitable, social enterprise or environmental purposes.
The proposed scheme would involve the construction of a dam and creation of a new reservoir at Loch nam Breac Dearga.
Water would be transferred from the reservoir to an underground cavern power station, and between the power station and Loch Ness via tunnels.
Pumped storage schemes involve two bodies of water at different heights. During periods of low demand for power, electricity is used to pump water from the lower loch to the upper reservoir. This water is then released to create energy at a time when demand is high.
SSE, which aims to restart electricity production from the troubled Glendoe hydro station in the hills above Loch Ness, in the first half of 2012, says Balmcaan is an ideal site for a pumped storage scheme.
Outlining the plans on its website, the company highlights the site’s proximity to Loch Ness and its “significant elevation” of about 1,640ft – over a relatively short distance – between Loch Ness and the new reservoir.
A spokesman at SSE was unable to give any details of the construction phase, or say how much the company planned to invest in the scheme.
But the public has a chance to find out more at information exhibitions being held at Glenmoriston Millennium Hall on Wednesday February 1 and Blairbeg Hall, Drumnadrochit, the next day.
Perth-based SSE is also working on a 600MW pumped storage scheme at Core Glas near Laggan and Loch Lochy, and aims to submit planning applications to the Scottish Government for both projects this year. Glendoe, which cost £160million to build, was closed in 2009 after a rockfall blocked the main tunnel carrying water from the reservoir in the Monadhliath Mountains above Fort Augustus to the turbine hall.
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