Extreme E in Scotland will be at centre of changing landscape

Change seems to be in the air up in Dumfries and Galloway this weekend. Last week’s General Election may not have seen a switch in party in the Scottish constituency but at the Glenmuckloch opencast coal mine will be the backdrop for a key shift in motorsport, through Extreme E, and how it’s powered this weekend.

For alongside a regular season race, the Extreme E Hydro X Prix will see the testing of a new hydrogen powered car which is set to revolutionise motorsport from 2025 in a location that will soon become a Pumped Storage Hydropower plant and wind farm.

When you look at the brutality of a coal mine, with its sheer cliff-like faces and deep ravines, few would see the potential for a race track. But it appears Extreme E, at least, has.

The all-electric motorsport will return to Scotland this year in the series’ final year before a switch to hydrogen.

Back on the Extreme E track

“The extreme course in Dumfries and Galloway produced some thrilling racing last season and so we cannot wait to get back on track this weekend for the next round of the championship,” Extreme E founder Alejandro Agag said.

Ali Russell, managing director of Extreme E, added: “Returning to Scotland for the Hydro X Prix is a significant moment for Extreme E.

“The transformation of Glenmuckloch from a coal mine to a renewable energy site perfectly encapsulates our message of sustainability.”

The hydrogen racer will continue its testing this weekend in Dumfries and Galloway ahead of its competitive debut next season.

But change is nothing new in motorsport, where fans have watched as Formula 1 went hybrid and motorsport as a whole has taken a more active stance on sustainability and the future of the environment.

Change

Whether it is petrol guzzling motors or the flying of entire paddocks across the world, it is a sport that needs watching when it comes to practising what it preaches.

Extreme E is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, though Russell has in the past insisted that their involvement in the technology and development of hydrogen is key to keeping the pace of change within the motorsport and, eventually, road cars.

So with the Labour government removing the ban on onshore wind farms, the Glenmuckloch opencast coal mine developing, partly, into one and the testing of hydrogen power taking place up in Scotland; Dumfries and Galloway, despite little recent political change, could find itself at the centre of a global movement.