Drax submits application to expand iconic ‘Hollow Mountain’ Power Station

Renewable energy leader Drax will today submit its application for planning consent to build a new underground pumped storage hydro power station which would more than double the electricity generating capacity at its iconic ‘Hollow Mountain’ Cruachan facility in Scotland.

• Plans submitted by renewable energy company Drax to expand Cruachan Power Station in Scotland will support UK energy security, reduce energy costs, and cut carbon emissions by enabling more renewable power to be used by homes and businesses.
• The new power station could be operational as soon as 2030 with construction work getting underway in 2024, removing around 2 million tonnes of rock from inside Ben Cruachan and creating hundreds of jobs across Scotland.

The development – which could be the first newly constructed plant of its kind in the UK in more than 40 years – will provide critical storage capacity to strengthen the UK’s energy security and enable net zero. It will be a major infrastructure project which will support around 900 jobs during six years of construction across the supply chain in a range of industries from quarrying and engineering, to transport and hospitality. Around 150 on-site local construction jobs will be created during the development.

The up to 600MW power station will be located inside Ben Cruachan – Argyll’s highest mountain – and increase the site’s total capacity to 1.04GW. The plant will be housed within a new, hollowed-out cavern which would be large enough to fit Big Ben on its side. Around two million tonnes of rock will be excavated to create the cavern, tunnels, and other parts of the power station.