SSE restarts operations at 100MW hydro plant in Scotland

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has restarted operations at its 100MW Glendoe hydro electric located near Fort Augustus, above Loch Ness, after the production was halted in August 2009.

The power generating operations at the hydro electric plant were suspended following a rock fall in the tunnel through which water was provided to the power station from the reservoir.

The company restored the power generation at the hydro plant and has produced and sold electricity of about three gigawatt hours (GWh) to the transmission network.

SSE Generation managing director Paul Smith said the company has restored electricity generation at the plant and is ensuring that the power station meets its original design criteria and support the country’s electricity system.

"We will continue to monitor closely the performance of Glendoe to make sure that the reconstruction work has been fully successful, ensuring sustainable generation at the site, similar to that achieved at our other schemes such as Sloy on Loch Lomond which is still generating power more than 60 years after being commissioned," Smith added.

Glendoe hydro station’s prime operating feature is to produce electricity at full capacity in merely 90 seconds and is able to generate up to 180GWh of electricity in a year even with average amount of rainfall.

Scotland-based SSE is an electric utility company.