HYDRO-ELECTRICITY PROJECT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 36, 4 June 1947, Page 3

HYDRO-ELECTRICITY PROJECT

SCOTLAND’S SCHEME 80,000,000 EXTRA UNITS Eighty million extra units of electricity will be provided annually through a new project for utilising the waters of two rivers in the Highlands of Scotland for power production.

This is the most recent addition to ambitious plans being handled by the North of Scotland Hydro-elec-tric Board. The total annual output of electricity from the control of the Board will reach 500,000,000 units. These will be produced by a chain of 100 generating plants, costing £65,000,000 to construct.

The new lakes will be created in the hills above Loch Fyne, in Argylshire, by damming the rivers which flow into it. The water from the larger of these two storage areas will pass through a small power station andthen be fed to a main generating plant by means of a 4-2-mile pipe line. The 80,000,000 units of electricity produced by the harnessing of this water supply will be transmitted to the Central Electricity Board’s grid and thus will become available for all Britain.

The scheme will bring benefits to Scotland by supplying cheap power for both industrial and agricultural enterprises and it will also enable the crofters to enjoy full amenities of electric lighting and a power supply in their isolated homesteads. It has lately been estimated that the full development of the nation’s waterpower resources could save Britain at least 6,000,000 tons of coal every year. The Glen Shire project will soon be making a notable contribution to that aim.