Glendoe Hydro Scheme

Glendoe Reservoir
Glendoe Hydro Scheme is located in Highland
Glendoe Hydro Scheme
Location of Glendoe Reservoir in Highland
Official nameGlendoe Hydro Scheme
CountryUnited Kingdom
LocationScottish Highlands
Coordinates57°05′35″N 4°33′22″W / 57.093°N 4.556°W / 57.093; -4.556
Opening date29 June 2009
Owner(s)Scottish and Southern Energy
Dam and spillways
Height35 m (115 ft)
Length905 m (2,969 ft)
Reservoir
Catchment area
  • Immediate:
    15 km2 (5.8 sq mi)
  • Attached:
    60 km2 (23 sq mi)
Maximum length2 km (1.2 mi)
Normal elevation630 m (2,070 ft)
Power Station
Installed capacity100 MW (max. planned)
Glendoe
Hydro-Electric Scheme
River Oich
Loch Ness
River Tarff + tailrace tunnel
B862 bridge + power station
River Tarff + headrace tunnel
Intake + Loch Carn a' Chuilinn
unnamed intake
Uisg a' Chaime intake
Glendoe Dam
Headrace tunnel
Glendoe Reservoir
Allt na Feithe Glaise intake
unnamed intake
Allt Breineag
Allt na Feithe Gobhlaich intake
River Tarff (far left)
tunnel/pipeline
Allt na Craidhleig
Allt Mor intake
Allt Odhar
Allt Creag Cromaich intake
Allt Tarsuinn intake
River Killin
Allt Rhuige an t-Sidhein intake
Caochan nan Sac intake
Crom Allt intake
Allt Uaine Mhachair intake
Allt Coire an Eich intake
Allt Cam Bàn intake

The Glendoe Hydro Scheme for the generation of hydro-electric power is located in the Monadhliath Mountains near Fort Augustus, above Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The change in financial incentives following the publication of the Renewables Obligation in 2001 caused Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) to reconsider a number of schemes that had been mothballed in the 1960s by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, and plans for the Glendoe scheme were resurrected.

Construction started in 2006, and Hochtief completed the scheme in 2009. It is operated by SSE and was opened on 29 June 2009 by Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh. Part of the main headrace tunnel collapsed in August 2009, and remedial work was not completed until 2012, with generation restarting in April. SSE and Hochtief failed to agree on who was responsible for the cost of the failure, but SSE were awarded damages in 2018 in the court of appeal, despite an adjudication and the first court case finding that the cost was an operational risk to be borne by SSE.