A HYDRO power station in Argyll and Bute is to receive an £80 million refurbishment, it has been announced.
Energy firm Drax has confirmed the investment of £80m for Cruachan power station, which is one of just four pumped storage hydro facilities in the UK, and is located on the shores of Loch Awe.
Two of the four units in the station are to be refurbished as they were commissioned in 1965 and contain parts, including their turbines, which are now more than 50 years old.
The investment will increase the energy generating capacity by 40MW – raising the total capacity to 480MW.
READ MORE: Europe's largest floating wind farm approved off Aberdeenshire coast
Dave Doogan, an MP and the SNP’s energy security and net-zero spokesperson, has said the investment is a significant step forward in Scotland’s green endeavors to reach net zero emissions.
He said: "This latest investment from Drax underlines how bright Scotland's renewable future is.
"Once again, major energy companies are looking at Scotland and seeing the huge potential and natural resources we have - and are committing vast sums of money into our economy.
"With the help of the SNP Scottish Government, Scotland continues to lead the way in the green renewable sector, which will help households in Scotland with their energy bills and support our transition to net zero.
"However, with Westminster parties failing to show the same level of ambition, and using Scotland's vast natural resources to find tax cuts for the rich and fund nuclear power plants in England, we are still in danger of being left behind.
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"Only with the full powers of a normal, independent country can we harness all of Scotland's green renewable potential, and invest the vast sums generated back into Scotland's economy.
"We have the energy, we just need the power."
The news follows the Scottish Government’s announcement of investing £3 billion in an offshore floating wind project off the coast of Aberdeenshire earlier in April.
The funding is expected to generate hundreds of jobs for the North East, and would be Europe's first commercial-scale floating wind development.
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