A new £200million hydro and renewable energy storage scheme planned for the Isle of Lewis will create more than 150 construction jobs.
Lewis-based enterprise Eishken aims to install the infrastructure and will apply for consent later this year.
The business − which is headed up Nick Oppenheim, who owns the Eishken estate – said the project would take three to five years to build and that the local community would have a share of any profits.
The scheme will be capable of generating 300MW of electricity – enough to power more than 200,000 homes.
It will also store electricity and increase the use of a cable being installed by the National Grid to export and import electricity generated from renewable energy sources on the islands.
The proposed scheme will be adjacent to the already consented 162MW Muaitheabhal Wind Farm on Lewis.
It will permit part of the output of the wind farm to be stored until required.
Eishken chief executive Mr Oppenheim said: “There are very few PSH (pumped storage hydro) schemes throughout the UK and what we are proposing is particularly innovative given the use of the sea as the lower reservoir.
“This scheme will not only materially enhance the benefits to be derived from the Western Isles link but will make a material difference in the supply of energy to the mainland.
“It will also be a key element in the Scotland’s renewable energy armoury.”
Pumped storage facilities in essence act like huge batteries storing electricity.
Water is pumped uphill from a lower reservoir to a second reservoir at a higher level.
When demand for electricity is high, the stored water is released through generators situated at the foot of the hill into the lower reservoir.
The technology is proven and has been in use for nearly a century although none have been built in the UK for the last 30 years.
