SSE Generation to pursue £130m Glendoe claim

Electricity generation at Glendoe was halted for two years

An energy company has won the right to pursue a £130m claim against contractors after a tunnel collapse hit the operation of a new hydro scheme.

SSE Generation launched the compensation claim following problems at its Glendoe site near Fort Augustus.

It has sought to recover the millions of pounds it said it lost after the collapse in 2009 halted electricity generation for two years.

The contractors have a counterclaim for almost £10m.

Hochtief Solutions and Hochtief (UK) Constructions said this figure represented profits lost from having to investigate the collapse and not being given the job to carry out the repairs.

Hochtief argues that SSE should have made a claim on a joint names insurance policy, and also that some parts of the claim should be deleted ahead of an evidential hearing in the action.

But Lord Woolman, a judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, has held in a newly issued decision that SSE was not barred from bringing any part of its case.

The judge said he would fix a further hearing to consider future procedure in the commercial court action.