Work underway on three new hydro schemes, Scotland

29 June 2016


Construction has started on three small hydro projects with a combined capacity of 3.5MW in the Scottish Highlands, Gilkes Energy announced.

The three projects are all located on the Attadale Estate near Loch Carron: Strathan Hydro is a 0.5MW, high-head, low-flow project incorporating a three intakes, a high pressure pipeline and a Gilkes twin-jet Pelton turbine; Loch an Laoigh Hydro is a 1MW, low-head, high-flow project incorporating a single intake with a small amount of storage, large bore pipeline and a Gilkes Francis turbine; and Uisge Dubh Hydro is a 2MW, low-head, high-flow project incorporating twin intakes, large bore pipeline and twin Gilkes Francis turbines.

The three projects are all very different, Gilkes said. Strathan for example drops a vertical distance of 177m and uses a new Gilkes 'Streamline' twin-jet Pelton turbine which is optimized for applications such as this, and uses a relatively small amount of water (360 l/s). Uisge Dubh on the other hand drops a vertical distance of just 85m and uses a much larger Francis turbine, and much more water than Strathan, nearly 10 times as much at 3,020l/s. Both projects have very different engineering specifications, technical challenges and capital costs, the company said.

These three projects bring the total capital deployed in Gilkes Energy projects to more than £70 million.



Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.