The Princess Royal visited Drax Group’s Cruachan ‘Hollow Mountain’ Power Station, near Oban in Argyll, on Monday to unveil a commemorative plaque marking the 60th anniversary of its opening.
Carved into the granite interior of Ben Cruachan, the plant was the first large-scale reversible pumped storage hydro facility in the world when it was opened by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1965. Today it continues to play a vital role in balancing the electricity grid and supporting the UK’s transition to net zero through storing excess renewable electricity at times of low demand.
The unveiling was conducted by HRH The Princess Royal, who was welcomed to the site by Will Gardiner, Chief Executive Officer of Drax Group, alongside other Drax colleagues and representatives from the local community.
Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, said: “Cruachan is an engineering marvel that has stood the test of time. As Britain builds the clean energy system of the future, flexible assets like Cruachan will be absolutely central to keeping the lights on. We are deeply honoured to welcome Her Royal Highness to mark this milestone, and to celebrate the generations of skilled people who have operated and maintained this extraordinary station over the past six decades.”
Drax Group has recently made an £80 million investment in the site to refurbish the plant and increase its generating capacity. Two of Cruachan’s generating units will be refurbished alongside the replacement of all four of the plant’s main inlet water valves. Each water valve weighs as much as three double decker buses, and in one minute can transport enough water to fill an Olympic swimming pool.
Cruachan supports the national grid by releasing water from its upper reservoir to flow through its turbines and into Loch Awe below. The flow of water rotates the turbine which in turn rotates a generator to produce electricity. Excess electricity from the grid can at other times be used to drive the turbine in the opposite direction, to pump water from Loch Awe up into the upper reservoir, storing for use later like a giant water battery.
