A Feasibility Study for Coire Glas Hydro Scheme

Coire Glas is located on the shores of Loch Lochy in the Scottish Highlands, between Fort William and Inverness, with a potential capacity of up to 1500MW, and energy storage of around 30GWh. Once complete, it will double the existing electricity storage capacity within the UK, providing homegrown renewable energy when the demand is high, or other variable generation is low.  

The north shore of Loch Lochy homes the Lower Works Site (LWS), which means that conventional road-based construction logistics often prove to be difficult, a fact compounded by the large volume of spoils from excavation works, which would need to be handled and removed. As Loch Lochy is part of the Caledonian Canal however, marine transportation was a real possibility, and one which Malin sought to understand in terms of practicality. As such, rather than simply considering what barge to use, or what route may be taken, the team equally investigated the wider marine logistics chain, including jetties, loading and unloading operations, material handling, navigation, fabrication, mobilisation, costs, and environmental implications. 

The first part of our work looked at how excavated spoil could be removed from the Lower Works Site using marine transport, with environmental impact a key consideration; the aim was to identify a practical solution that may both minimise disturbance in the short-term, and longer-term allow the site to be returned as closely as possible, to its original condition. 

The second aspect of the feasibility study focussed on the transportation of project cargo from an undefined location to the Lower Works Site on the North Shore of Loch Lochy. The key elements of this were the safe navigation through the canal, the design of a shoreside interface to facilitate the project cargo, and the means of loading and unloading the vessel. The range of marine options available for bringing project cargo to the Lower Works Site for the development were assessed and included in this part of the study, to enable the client, SSE to select the most effective option.