RWE Innogy has received the green light from the Scottish Government to build another hydro- power plant in the United Kingdom.

The Cia Aig hydroelectric power station, 3 megawatts of installed capacity, will be sited near Fort William, in the Scottish Highlands. Driven by the fresh water of Loch Arkaig, the new hydropower plant will meet the future electricity requirements of around 1600 households each year. Building is to commence next year, and will take about 18 months.

“The development and construction of hydro-electric power plants to a maximum of 5 megawatts are important elements in the ecologically compatible and sustainable use of hydropower in the United Kingdom. Especially along smaller rivers, power plants of roughly this size conserve both landscape and ecosystems. Generating energy almost all the year round, they make an important contribution to a reliable, decentralized, renewable energy supply,” explains Dr. Olaf Heil, head of Hydropower and New Applications at RWE Innogy.

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Just a few weeks ago, work began on the construction of another RWE Innogy hydro-electric power plant in Scotland. The Black Rock run-of-river plant is now under construction on the River Glass, in Ross-shire. With an installed capacity of 3.5 megawatts, Black Rock will generate around 10 gigawatt-hours annually, which equates to supplying around 2000 households.

Through its British subsidiary, RWE npower renewables, RWE Innogy operates a total of 19 hydro-electric power plants in the UK, with a total installed capacity of about 70 megawatts. Scotland alone is home to 12 of these plants. Europe-wide, RWE Innogy has an installed hydro-electric power plant capacity of around 540 megawatts.