Organised in collaboration with NOF, a not-for-profit UK membership organisation helping to connect businesses in the global energy sector, the event took place at the historic Argyllshire Gathering Halls and provided an opportunity for attendees to learn more about the wider benefits the Cruachan Expansion Project will deliver, not just across Argyll and Bute, but across Scotland and the UK.

The project will see the development of a new underground pumped storage hydro plant located immediately east of the existing Cruachan Power Station on the northern shores of Loch Awe. The new plant will provide an additional 600MW of generation capacity, which would more than double the current site’s generating capacity to over one gigawatt, enough to power two million homes.

Opened back in 1965, the site has been supplying and absorbing excess power to the grid, acting as a ‘green battery’ by storing low-carbon energy when there is over supply and releasing it when demand is high. The ‘Hollow Mountain” as Cruachan is known, took six years to construct, with a 4,000-strong workforce who drilled, blasted and cleared the rocks from the inside of the mountain. These brave workers came to be known as ‘Tunnel Tigers’ and were pivotal in the construction of the power station and dam at the site.

Although designed when nuclear or coal-fired plants powered the grid, Cruachan’s technology remains at the cutting edge of pumped hydro storage. Cruachan now helps to balance more a volatile supply and demand as a result of the shift towards renewables and low-carbon energy sources in the 21st century.

During the construction phase, the expansion project is expected to support around 1100 jobs across the UK and contribute a potential £470m to the economy. Once fully constructed, the Cruachan expansion will be the first pumped storage hydro plant to be constructed in the UK since 1984.

Steve Marshall, development manager at Drax, said: “We are delighted to engage with suppliers, businesses and local residents as we continue on the journey to expand the Pumped Storage Hydro Station at Cruachan. We want British businesses to be at the front and centre of our plans for the expansion, which will contribute millions to the local economy and help to support over 150 jobs in the area. We hope this event has educated and inspired those in attendance as we look forward to an exciting future for Cruachan.”

Joanne Leng MBE, chief executive of NOF, said: “NOF was delighted to work in partnership with Drax to deliver the Cruachan Expansion project event recently in Oban. To see such an amazing turn out from local businesses, stakeholders and individuals demonstrated the level of keen interest in the project. Feedback on the event so far has been extremely encouraging and to see Drax engaging so early with interested parties is exemplary.”

The expansion project, which secured development consent from the Scottish Government back in 2023, has progressed into the design phase through the development of front-end engineering and design (FEED), with Voith Hydro appointed to act as the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for the mechanical and electrical components of the plant in July 2024.