FOR the last two days, some concerning news has been circulating on social media. “Ed Miliband has given the green light for building dams in Loch Ness,” one tweet, which has been viewed more than 100,000 times, said.
“Under no circumstances should dams in Loch Ness be accepted,” one former parliamentarian posted as the rumours grew.
“Heard the news last night that Ed Miliband is set to allow for the building ‘of dams’ in Loch Ness,” a third user wrote.
The source of the rumours seems to be a story in the right-wing newspaper The Telegraph, which ran the headline: “Ed Miliband unlocks billions to build giant dams across Britain.”
It then reported: “Loch Ness faces monster hydro scheme after Energy Secretary offers developers support for projects.”
So, is it true?
The first thing to note is that The Telegraph headline is from October 10, which is the day the UK Government announced its “Long Duration Electricity Storage investment support scheme”.
This scheme, which Scottish Renewables and the Scottish Government had been calling for for more than a year, is aimed at boosting investor confidence in pumped hydro schemes in Scotland.
Pumped hydro works like a giant battery, moving water up to an elevated reservoir using excess energy in times of surplus so that it can flow downhill when renewable sources are scarce, releasing the stored energy as it goes.
Such schemes are considered essential to creating a stable renewable energy network in Scotland – and will also cut down on the hundreds of millions spent paying Scottish wind farms to turn off because the grid does not have the capacity for the power they are generating.
It is true that Loch Ness is to be used as the focal point for a number of these planned schemes:
- Loch Kemp: This proposed scheme near Whitebridge would use Loch Kemp as the upper reservoir and Loch Ness as the lower reservoir.
- Glen Earrach: Planned on the Balmacaan Estate, this project will utilise Loch nam Breac Dearga and Loch Ness – between which there is a 480 metre height difference.
- Loch na Cathrach (formerly Red John) Scheme: This approved project involves constructing a new upper reservoir near Loch Duntelchaig, with Loch Ness serving as the lower reservoir.
Loch Ness is just 16 metres above sea level and is more than 200 metres deep. It contains more water than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined.
The sheer volume of water, combined with its low elevation and proximity to much higher altitudes – running as it does through the Great Glen – mean it is ideal for pumped storage hydro.
The planned schemes will all use Loch Ness as the lower reservoir – meaning that water will be pumped from it, and flow back to it. Any dam will be at a much higher elevation and not in the famous loch.
There have been concerns raised that the action of pumping from Loch Ness will affect water levels and negatively impact on the local environment. Brian Shaw, the river director of the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board, said in October that it could "destroy the loch and surrounding ecosystems’ biodiversity, and devalue one of Scotland’s premier tourism destinations".
However, there are no plans to put a dam in Loch Ness – which, considering it is one of the deepest freshwater bodies in Europe, would be a truly Herculean task.
And even if there were such plans in the pipeline, it would not be in UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s remit to approve them. Planning is devolved to the Scottish Government.
Fact check rating:
There are no plans to put a dam in Loch Ness. Ed Miliband has not – and could not – approve any such plans.
However, there are plans to use the loch’s natural advantages to benefit Scotland’s renewable energy infrastructure, which have been met with some opposition.
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