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Meeting of the Parliament 18 June 2013

18 Jun 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Hydro Power

Scanlon, Mary Con Highlands and Islands Watch on SPTV

We are delighted to contribute to this debate on hydro power in Scotland in recognition of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Hydro-Electric Development (Scotland) Act 1943 and in acknowledgement of the contribution of Tom Johnston.

Much has changed in the world of energy in 70 years, but hydro remains a productive, effective and environmentally friendly method of producing electricity. It is the oldest form of renewable energy in Scotland, being even older than the 70 years of the 1943 act. In fact, the hydroelectric pioneers were the monks at Fort Augustus abbey on Loch Ness, who developed a small 18KW scheme in 1891 to power the chapel’s electric organ and the houses in the local village. In researching for this debate, I read that, when the monks played the organ, the lights in the village went dim. Nonetheless, it was wonderful technology for the time.

Although that development and others like it proved that the technology worked, they were restricted by the fact that power could not be transmitted to a sufficiently wide area. In 1896, the Foyers catchment area was first developed for hydroelectric power, and it still produces hydroelectricity today on the shores of Loch Ness. Kinlochleven was transformed from a remote crofting settlement to a centre of industry with people from all walks of life and of many nationalities in the village when the hydroelectric power system was completed in 1909. In the graveyard at Kinlochleven, we find the graves of many men who lost their lives doing hard and dangerous work. The extensive hydro scheme there is also still operated—by Rio Tinto Alcan—although a large part of the site has been redeveloped.

After the second world war, men came from across Europe, including Ireland, to work on the hydro schemes in Scotland. The tunnellers, or tunnel tigers as they were called, could earn up to £35 a week, which at that time was 10 times the going rate for those who worked on the land in the Highlands. My mother’s brothers came from Donegal, along with many other Irishmen, to work on the schemes.

Five years ago, SSE completed Britain’s first large-scale conventional hydroelectric station for more than 50 years—the £150 million, 100MW plant at Glendoe, again near Fort Augustus on Loch Ness. We are not short of the water or high land that we need to make hydro the success that it is in Scotland.

The 1943 act of Parliament stated a requirement on the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board

“to avoid, as far as possible, injury to fisheries and the stock of fish”.

That brings me nicely to my second point, which is about the freshwater pearl mussel, which is scientifically known as Margaritifera Margaritifera. As the Scottish Environment LINK species champion for the species, I cannot miss an opportunity to mention these incredible creatures, which can live for up to 134 years.

Of the rivers in the world that are known to host populations of freshwater pearl mussels, 72—one third—are here in Scotland, and we have around 50 per cent of the world’s freshwater pearl mussels. The jewellery is incidental, given that only 1 per cent produce a pearl. The reason why the species needs more protection from new hydro schemes is that it is now listed as one of the world’s endangered species, alongside the giant pandas.

In its first year, the pearl mussel lives harmlessly on the gills of a young salmon or trout. As payback for its first year of living on the fish, an adult mussel filters and purifies about 50 litres of water every day, allowing the fish to survive in clean river water. The issue is not just about pearl mussels; it is also about the survival of trout and salmon in Scotland’s rivers.

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Meeting of the Parliament 18 June 2013

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