top of page

Northern Ireland Water mulls pumped hydropower project

Roger Milne

A consortium led by Northern Ireland Water and power company, Mutual Energy, is examining the feasibility of building what would be the region’s first pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) scheme in County Antrim.


In conventional PHES designs, surplus electricity is used to pump water from a lower reservoir to a higher one during periods of low prices to be released downhill, powering turbines to generate electricity at times of greater demand.


The £1bn Northern Ireland project would differ slightly by using Belfast Lough as the lower reservoir, thereby removing the need for two land-based reservoirs at different elevations. Water from the lough would be pumped into a new inland reservoir near Carrickfergus during periods of high renewable output, then channelled back through turbines when wind or solar generation drops.


The consortium is set to report to the Northern Ireland Executive and the region’s utility regulator.


The energy company already operates key parts of Northern Ireland’s energy infrastructure, including the Moyle Interconnector, which links the electricity networks of Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the Scotland to Northern Ireland gas transmission pipeline.

Comments


bottom of page