How hydro could power Scotland’s future

11/05/18 | Blog

As Scotland’s hydro sector prepares to meet in Perth on 8 May for an industry-leading conference, Scottish Renewables’ Senior Policy Manager Hannah Smith considers the role hydro and pumped storage could play in Scotland’s future.

Arguably our modern hydro sector was born out of crisis.

Secretary of State for Scotland Tom Johnston was appointed by Winston Churchill in 1941 – the same year Germany invaded the Soviet Union and America’s Pearl Harbour was attacked.

During the Second World War, and in its immediate aftermath, Johnston led a number of initiatives designed to tackle various social and economic issues in Scotland.

He regulated rents, set up an Emergency Hospital Service, and attracted businesses and jobs to Scotland through his Council of Industry.

Perhaps his biggest legacies though were the creation of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board and his ‘Power to the Glens’ campaign.

Johnston’s Hydro Board created schemes to deliver electricity to some of Scotland’s most remote regions. In turn, this created valuable post-war employment and improved living standards across the highlands.

While the challenges Scotland faces today are very different from those of the 1940s, our hydro sector is as well-placed now as it was then to help deliver a series of benefits to our energy system and our economy.

1. Hydro and pumped storage can help us meet our low-carbon energy objectives
The UK must double its renewable energy capacity if it is to meet its climate change targets.

It goes without saying that increased hydro capacity could help meet those targets, and others from both the Scottish and UK governments’, including one suggested by Scottish Renewables and contained in Scotland’s Energy Strategy: that half of all energy should come from renewable sources by 2030.

There are system benefits to these technologies too.

Hydro’s fuel – water – is provided on different cycles to that of solar or wind farms, creating a different generation pattern which complements other technologies nicely.
Pumped storage capacity offers a series of benefits to the grid, from helping regulate voltage and lessening the need for new grid assets to offering black-start capability in case of an outage.

These assets last, and can deliver system benefits for half a century or more.

2. Regional growth

It’s not just about energy – it’s also about economic growth.
Hydro and pumped storage projects are large infrastructure projects – they bring in investment and help to create and sustain a variety of jobs through construction and operation.

From lawyers to builders and environmental specialists to planners – hydro and pumped storage have the potential to deliver for our economy.

The sector has particular potential in relation to value-based growth too.

As Tom Johnston rightly realised, there’s a different value to economic activity in different locations.

Rural communities – which often struggle to keep their economies afloat – can benefit hugely from renewable energy projects. Hydro and pumped storage offer bang for their buck.

3. Holistic, innovative and secure systems

Hydro may be a tried-and-tested technology, but it can lend itself to our ambitions to create a smart and flexible energy system.

Pumped storage can help us balance an increasingly dynamic system; small-scale hydro schemes can be powerful community assets, and if the A9 is to become our first ‘electric highway’, could hydro plants in the highlands power the fuelling stations along the way?

There’s plenty of this technology to be part of our energy future.

Ahead of the industry gathering in Perth, when the many challenges facing the sector will be discussed, it is worth reflecting on the benefits that hydro can bring not just to our energy system, but to our regions and our economy.

Policy-makers and industry alike would do well to channel a bit of Tom Johnston and think about all that the sector can deliver.

It is, after all, more than just power from the glens.