Balfour Beatty is set to deliver the £1.2 million sustainable civil and electrical programme at Maldie Hydro scheme in West Sutherland, Scotland.
The sustainable energy scheme will see the generation of up to 4.5MW of electricity that will meet the annual needs of 2,500 households. The scheme enables the generation of electricity through the abstraction of water from the loch. Water is fed along a 2km buried pipeline to a semi-buried powerhouse – housing the transformer, turbines, generator and associated equipment – located at the downstream end of the Maldie Burn. The water rotates the turbine shaft, which in turn rotates the generator shaft. This then converts hydraulic energy into mechanical energy and the generator converts mechanical into electrical energy. The water is then returned to the Maldie Burn.
Appointed by client RWE npower renewables and working alongside main contractor BAM Nuttall, Balfour Beatty’s package of works includes the design, supply and installation of all HV (High-Voltage) balance of plant electrical works at the site in the North West Highlands. This included the installation of around 8.5km of 33kV and fibre-optic cabling.
