Extreme E is attempting to exorcise the demons of power’s past with a new race in Scotland. The electric off-road racing series will take place in an abandoned open-pit coal mine that is being transformed into a bastion of renewable energy.
The race, dubbed the Hydro X Prix for reasons that will soon become apparent, will take place at the former Glenmuckloch opencast coal mine site in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The site will host the sporting event from May 13-14, 2023.
“We are thrilled to be headed to Scotland in May for the Hydro X Prix, and we could not have found a more perfect racing site than the former Glenmuckloch coal mine,” said Alejandro Agag, the founder and CEO of Extreme E. “Here in Scotland, our race site will play homage to the much-needed transition of an old coal mine which is being given a new and exciting lease of life as a hydro-project which will provide a fully renewable energy source for the region for centuries to come.”
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Indeed, the site will become the home to a Pump Storage Hydropower plant. Effectively, it will be filled with water, and will act as a battery for a wind project that is being built in conjunction with it.
Because windmills only harness the wind and don’t control it, there are periods when they are producing power that can’t be used. In those cases, the electricity will go towards pumping water into the mine.
The water is kept there until it is needed, at which time it fed through two 105 MW reversible hydro-turbines that together create enough electricity to power the average power needs of roughly 420,000 homes for up to eight hours.
Before it is flooded, though, Extreme E will turn it into a playground for its electric off-road racers. Among those involved in the sport are team owners Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, and Jenson Button.
For the third season of Extreme E, teams of two drivers (one man and one woman) race the Odyssey 21, an all-electric SUV with a peak output of 536 hp (400 kW/544 PS). That’s enough to get it off the line and up to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 4.5 seconds.
“Not only will this site provide one of the most dramatic and extreme racecourses we have seen in our global journey, it will tell a poignant story about transition and the changing of courses that the energy industry and communities must all take if we are to succeed in the fight against climate change,” said Agag.
