Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron has given a warm welcome to news that the historic Kinlochleven hydro-power station has significantly increased its output of electricity.
The station, which has upped its generation capacity since its operators, Simec Energy, invested in reinstating defunct side stream intakes, now generates enough power to light and heat the homes of Inverness.
Mr Cameron decided to highlight the investment by submitting a motion to the Scottish Parliament. He said: “It is particularly welcome at a challenging time like this to be able to flag up a significant good news story which means that the Highlands is contributing even more green energy to the national grid."
“The construction of the Blackwater Reservoir, which feeds the hydro station, was an extraordinary feat of civil engineering in its day, and it is very encouraging to see that spirit of enterprise continuing to flourish with this development at Kinlochleven.”
Donald Cameron’s motion reads:
Kinlochleven Power Station
That the Parliament welcomes the news that Kinlochleven power station, a hydro station that sources from the Blackwater reservoir on Rannoch Moor, and which is Britain’s oldest hydro station of its kind, has increased its output by 20%; notes that it recently generated an average of 23.27MW of electricity, which is sufficient to light and heat the homes of the city of Inverness; congratulates the operator, Simec Energy, on its investment in reinstating defunct side-stream intakes and improving water collection for the scheme, which has facilitated the higher level of electricity generation, and is encouraged by this increased output of green energy that the station is making to meet the nation’s energy needs.