Foresight fund to invest in pumped-storage wind hybrid in Scotland

Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (FEIP), the flagship energy transition fund of Foresight Group LLP, said today it will invest in a co-located pumped-storage hydro and wind project at the site of a dormant opencast coal mine in Scotland.

The scheme calls for the construction of a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant with a storage capacity of 1,600 MWh and a 33.6-MW wind farm made up of eight 4.2-MW turbines. At a rate of 210 MW per hour, the hydropower facility will be able to provide eight hours of storage capacity.

The project site is at the disused 1,547-acre Glenmuckloch opencast coal mine near Kirkconnel. It will store power during periods of excess supply and release it at times of peak demand.

FEIP noted that there have only been five such plants in the UK to date.

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