The Anonymous Widower

Cloiche Onshore Wind Farm

This document from the Department of Business, Industry and Industrial Strategy lists all the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6 results for the supply of zero-carbon electricity.

The largest onshore wind farm in the Allocation Round, is the Cloiche wind farm, which has this web page,which is entitled Onshore Wind Projects , on the SSE Renewables web site.

It is the only project on the page and these two paragraphs describe its location and capacity.

The proposed 29 turbine Cloiche Wind Farm is located on the Glendoe and Garrogie Estates, adjacent to the operational Stronelairg Wind Farm and Glendoe Hydroelectric Scheme and approximately 11 kilometres (km) to the south-east of Fort Augustus in the Great Glen, in the Monadhliath mountain range.

It is anticipated that the wind farm will generate approximately 130.5MW.

This Google Map shows the location.

Between the village of Fort Augustus and the Stronelairg wind farm, lies the Southern end of Loch Ness.

In the South-East corner of the map, there is a large lake, which is shown in more detail in this Google Map.

This is the Glendoe Reservoir for the Glendoe Hydro Scheme, that was built in the early years of this century, by damming the River Tarff.

The dam is clearly visible at the Western end of the Reservoir.

The Glendoe Hydro Scheme was opened in 2009 and has a generation capacity of 106.5 MW.

The planning and building of the scheme are described in this Wikipedia entry and the entry is well worth a read.

Stronelairg Wind Farm

Stronelairg wind farm, Cloiche wind farm and the Glendoe Hydro Scheme are all projects, that were or will be developed by SSE Renewables.

Stronelairg wind farm has 66 turbines and a total installed capacity of 228 MW.

It has a web page on the SSE Renewables web site.

These two paragraphs describe the location of Stronelairg wind farm.

Stronelairg sits at an elevation of around 600m above sea level in the Moadhliath Mountain range making it one of our windiest wind farms.

It sits within a natural bowl on a plateau, set well back from Loch Ness meaning that no turbines are visible from the main tourist routes in the area. Stronelairg is also located adjacent to our 100MW Glendoe hydro scheme and so the construction teams were able to use the hydro infrastructure as do our operational teams now.

Stronelairg wind farm appears tobe a powerful asset, hidden in the mountains.

Three Co-located Assets

As Cloche wind farm, will be adjacent to the operational Stronelairg Wind Farm and Glendoe Hydroelectric Scheme, these three energy producing assets, will be close together.

• Cloiche wind farm – 130.5 MW
• Stronelairg wind farm – 228 MW
• Glendoe Hydroelectric Scheme – 106.5 MW

Note.

1. This is a total power of 465 MW.
2. This would be equivalent to a medium-sized gas-fired power station.
3. All three assets could use the same grid grid connection and other facilities.

It could be considered a 358.5 MW wind farm, backed by a 106.5 MW hydro power station.

When there is a shortage of wind, the Glendoe Hydroelectric Scheme could step in, if required.

Conclusion

Onshore wind, backed up by hydroelectric schemes would appear to be a good way to create reliable hybrid power stations.

Do any other schemes in Allocation Round 6, involve combining onshore wind with existing hydro schemes?

September 5, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Energy | Cloiche Wind Farm, Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, Fort Augustus, Glendoe Hydro Power Station, Hybrid Wind/Hydro Power, Hydroelectricity, Loch Ness, Onshore Wind Power, SSE Renewables, Wind Power