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Foyers hydroelectric pumped storage scheme, completed 1975
Date 26 October 2023
Event ID 1165426
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1165426
Foyers pumped storage hydro-electric scheme
Like the Loch Awe scheme, Foyers is a pumped storage system. It was a redevelopment of of the previous hydroelectric scheme built by the British Aluminium Company in the late 19th/ early 20th centuries, whose smelter ceased operation in 1967. The upper reservoir, Loch Mhor, had two dams built in its west end and is fed by an aqueduct from the River Fechlin draining Loch Killin. A tunnel connects Loch Mhor and the Foyers power station on the shore of Loch Ness. Nearby ios a second power station, Foyers Falls.
The main construction problem encountered was due to the Great Glen Fault shatter zone, causing routing and tunneling difficulties. Foyers power station has two reversible turbines capable of lifting 160 tons of water per second to Loch Mhor, and outputs 200 tons per second to Loch Ness when generating a full load of 300MW. The scheme was begin in 1969 and completed in 1975.
Information from NRHE item catalogue number WP007424 compiled by George Walker in 2005.
