Planning Application submitted for the 1.8GW Earba Pumped Storage Hydro ‘PSH’ project
We are delighted to announce that the Planning Application for the Earba Pumped Storage Hydro Project has now been submitted to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government.
Known as a ‘Section 36’ Planning Application, it includes considerable surveys, analysis, engineering design and consultation all summarized in an Environmental Impact Assessment report.
All major statutory consultees such as NatureScot and SEPA have been involved in the consultation, and we have listened to the views of the general public and local community via a number of face-to-face community events.
The Earba Storage Project is a proposed pumped storage hydro (‘PSH’) scheme with an installed capacity of up to 1,800MW and stored energy of up to 40,000 MWh making it the largest such scheme in the UK in terms of both installed capacity and energy stored.
Commenting on the project, David Tomb Project Director of the Earba PSH project said:
“We are very pleased to have submitted a Planning Application for the Earba Pumped Storage Hydro ‘PSH’ project.
This exciting project will be the largest in the UK at up to 1,800MW installed capacity and 40,000MWh stored energy. The project is considered to be of national significance given the size of the scheme. Compared with a typical Lithium-Ion battery storage project (50MW and 2hr which stores 100MWh of storage) the Earba PSH project at 40,000MWh is the equivalent of 400 battery projects and has a far smaller ecological footprint.
The planning application for the development also includes proposals for two large scale peatland and natural woodland restoration projects as part of an ambitious biodiversity enhancement plan.
Throughout 2024 we are looking forward to continued engagement with Stakeholders as the planning process moves forward and engaging further with the supply chain – particularly specialist turbine suppliers and civil contractors. A pumped storage hydro scheme has not been built in the UK for 40 years so we need to work with suppliers and contractors to build up supply chain capacity in order to be able to build this pioneering project.
The project will support approx. 500 jobs during the 5-6 year construction process. It will also require a number of highly skilled jobs such as engineers, designers, project managers, lawyers and financiers necessary to deliver such a large infrastructure project.
We look forward to bringing this exciting project to fruition”.
Please visit the Documents Page for access to all the planning documents, or Contact Us for more information.
