Ceannacroc was one of the first underground power stations to be built in Britain, part of the Great Glen hydro scheme, located on the River Moriston in the Highlands. Moore Concrete provided a precast concrete solution ideal for this type of construction project, especially in an area with limited available access.

Project Information

Output: 1.25MW

Turbine Arrangement: 1 X vertical multi-jet pelton supplied by Kossler

Gross Head: 137m

Design Flow: 1123 litres/second

Penstock Length: 1.8km

Commissioned: Dec 2016

Private HV System: 6.5km of underground cabling installed with a cable plough

Using precast concrete, reduces waste and the length of time on site, and enables stricter quality control measures with curing pre-installation.
Moore Concrete engineers and designers worked closely with their counterparts in Green Highland Renewables, Sinclair & Fairhurst Design Group to ensure the structural design was able to meet the requirements imposed on the weir, including the unit weight limit for site handling, joint and base connection details, and unit or pipe opening sizes to suit the hydraulic parameters of the weir system.

Green Renewables Continue to Work with Moore Concrete

April of 2016 was marked by Green Highland Renewables starting work on two run-of-river hydro schemes in Glen Affric . The projects, comprising a 2MW scheme on the Abhainn Gleann nam Fiadh and 1.5MW on the Allt Garbh are scheduled to finish in spring 2017. Together the two schemes will produce enough power to supply approximately 2,750 homes. Each installation will operate for a minimum of 40 years. As part of its commitment to the projects, both of which entailed the construction of new weirs, Green Highland undertook to carry out the work with a zero tolerance impact on the conservation value of both sites. It also committed to ensure that there would be a minimal disruption to the many visitors who regularly take in the stunning beauty of Glen Affric.
From a specification point of view, this entailed the weirs being constructed from precast concrete. Northern Ireland-based Moore Concrete won the contract to supply same.
“We were delighted to have the opportunity of working with Green Highland Renewables on the two hydro projects,” confirmed Moore’s sales manager Richard Whiteside.
“Both are bespoke initiatives, requiring unique moulds and state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques.
“Moore Concrete engineers and designers have been working closely with their counterparts in Green Highland Renewables to ensure that issues such as the strength of the concrete used and the precise configurations of the weir components.
“But manufacturing the individual precast elements was only part of the challenge entailed in the development of the weirs. We also co-ordinated their delivery to each site. Again, this involved close co-operation between both companies. Delivery had to be timed, so as to cause the least degree of disturbance at each location.”
Whiteside concluded:
“Moore Concrete specialises in bespoke civil engineering contracts of the type entailed in the weir projects. And, obviously, we would like to do more business of this kind in Scotland.”