How Much Pumped Storage Hydro Will Be Operational In The UK By 2030?
Pumped Storage Hydro is the Bank of England-standard for energy storage.
I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this post and received this answer.
The UK currently has approximately 3 GW (roughly 26-28 GWh) of operational pumped storage hydro (PSH) capacity. By 2030, this capacity is expected to increase, driven by new projects in the pipeline that aim to meet a government goal of up to 8 GW of long-duration energy storage by that year.
Key Projects Expected Online by 2030-2031:
Coire Glas (SSE): A major project in Scotland with a planned capacity of 1.3 GW / 30 GWh, expected to be operational around 2030–31.
Cruachan Expansion (Drax): A 600MW plant in Scotland that has received approval, with construction expected to contribute to the 2030 goal.
Glenmuckloch: Projected to be operational by 2029. In
Other Developments:
Total Pipeline: Developers have identified up to 10 GW of potential projects in the Scottish Highlands and Wales, though not all will be operational by 2030.
Future Growth: The total installed capacity of PSH is expected to grow significantly, with one projection suggesting a rise from 26.7 GWh currently to over 122 GWh by 2034.
To support these projects, the UK government has confirmed a “cap and floor” investment framework to stimulate development of long-duration energy storage (LDES).
For a relatively small island we do seem to be an ideal place to develop pumped storage hydro!
The Coire Glas Pumped Storage Scheme
In The Coire Glas Pumped Storage Scheme, I give more details of this scheme.
The Glenmuckloch Pumped Storage Scheme
In The Glenmuckloch Pumped Storage Scheme, I give more details of this scheme, which is based on a disused open cast coal mine.
Addition Of Pumped Storage Hydro By 2030
This looks to be around 5 GW, but it is just a foretaste of the shape of things to come!
Renewable Power By 2030 In The UK
I am doing this to see what the total output will be by the net election.
Offshore Wind Power
I shall start with offshore wind power.
- Operational in July 2025 – 16,035 MW
- 2025 – Dogger Bank A – 1,235 MW
- 2026 – Sofia – 1,400 MW
- 2026 – Dogger Bank B – 1,235 MW
- 2026 – East Anglia 1 North – 800 MW
- 2026 – East Anglia 3 – 1,372 MW
- 2027 – Dogger Bank C – 1,218 MW
- 2027 – Hornsea 3 – 2,852 MW
- 2027 – Inch Cape – 1,080 MW
- 2027 – Llŷr 1 – 100 MW
- 2027 – Llŷr 2 – 100 MW
- 2027 – Norfolk Boreas – 1,380 M
- 2027 – Whitecross – 100 MW
- 2028 – Aspen – 1008 MW
- 2028 – Morecambe – 480 MW
- 2028 – Ossian – 2,610 MW
- 2028 – Stromar – 900 MW
- 2029 – Beech – 1008 MW
- 2029 – East Anglia 2 – 967 MW
- 2029 – Green Volt – 400 MW
- 2029 – Mona – 1,500 MW
- 2029 – Morgan – 1,500 MW
- 2029 – Norfolk Vanguard East – 1,380 MW
- 2029 – Norfolk Vanguard West – 1,380 MW
- 2029 – North Falls – 504 MW
- 2029 – West of Orkney – 2,000 MW
- 2030 – Awel y Môr – 500 MW
- 2030 – Bellrock – 1,200 MW
- 2030 – Berwick Bank – 4,100 MW
- 2030 – Caledonia – 2,000 MW
- 2030 – Cedar – 1008 MW
- 2030 – Five Estuaries – 353 MW
- 2030 – Morven – 2,907 MW
- 2030 – N3 Project – 495 MW
- 2030 – Outer Dowsing – 1,500 MW
- 2030 – Rampion 2 Extension – 1,200 MW
This gives these yearly totals, if I use pessimistic dates.
- 2025 – 1,235 MW
- 2026 – 4,807 MW
- 2027 – 5,350 MW
- 2028 – 4,998 MW
- 2029 – 9,631 MW
- 2030 – 15,263 MW
This adds up to a total of 58,897 MW.
Solar Power
For solar power, I just asked Google AI and received this answer.
The UK government aims to have between 45 and 47 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity by 2030. This goal is set out in the Solar Roadmap and aims to reduce energy bills and support the UK’s clean power objectives. The roadmap includes measures like installing solar on new homes and buildings, exploring solar carports, and improving access to rooftop solar for renters.
Let’s assume that we only achieve the lowest value of 45 GW.
But that will still give us at least 100 GW of renewable zero-carbon power.
Energy Storage
For pumped storage hydro, I asked Google AI and received this answer.
The UK’s pumped storage hydro (PSH) capacity is projected to more than double by 2030, with six projects in Scotland, including Coire Glas and Cruachan 2, potentially increasing capacity to around 7.7 GW from the current approximately 3 GW. This would be a significant step towards meeting the National Grid’s required 13 GW of new energy storage by 2030, though achieving this depends on policy support and investment.
It looks like there is about another 5 GW of capacity to find.
Drax To Get £24m In Green Subsidies For Pumped Hydro
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
These three paragraphs give details of the subsidy.
Drax will bank £24 million in green subsidies from energy bill-payers for its pumped hydro assets, ahead of a revival in the energy storage technology in Britain.
The FTSE 250 constituent, which also operates Britain’s largest power station in North Yorkshire, has secured contracts to provide 434 megawatts of capacity from its pumped storage and hydro assets, the largest of which is the Cruachan power station near Oban in Scotland.
The contracts cover energy to be delivered between October 2028 to September 2029, at a price of £60 a kilowatt a year.
This will arouse the anti-Drax lobby, but it should be born in mind, that according to Wikipedia, Cruachan can provide a black start capability to the UK’s electrical grid.
This is Wikipedia’s definition of a black start.
A black start is the process of restoring an electric power station, a part of an electric grid or an industrial plant, to operation without relying on the external electric power transmission network to recover from a total or partial shutdown.
After the Great Storm of 1987, we were without power in my part of Suffolk for two weeks and I suspect there were several black starts in the South of England.
I suspect that power from interconnectors could now be used.
Drax is expanding Cruachan from 440 MW to 1 GW, which will be a large investment and surely increase its black start capability.
So in this case the future subsidy could be considered something like an insurance policy to make sure black start capability is available.
The Anonymous Widower 