The Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme was a major development by the Irish Free State in the 1920s to harness the River Shannon, still in operation today. It is Ireland’s largest river hydroelectric scheme and is operated on a purpose built headrace connected to the River Shannon.
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Talk about Ardnacrusha without naming it! Ffs. Also… “At the time, it was the largest hydroelectric station in the world, though this was soon superseded by the Hoover Dam which commenced construction in 1930.”
Fun fact: the Free State government spent around a fifth of its annual budget on the construction of the power station
I am first generation American and have been to Ireland several times. The use of the word scheme in America is always negative. Unless for some reason we are talking American football and it is in reference to offense or defense.
My last time there in 2017 I was in the bank and the signs that said “ let’s talk about your tax scheme “ made
Me think you were getting help
To defraud the government.
They never even finished it. There was room for 2 more turbines, and with modern technology they could probably power a data centre or something.
Cool place to visit. Mad that 90 years ago it powered the country and now it just about provides enough energy for Nenagh.
Amazing what we could do then and what we can’t do now with Metrolink/other infrastructure projects.
Spent summers jumping 9ff the bridge in the background.
Is the water for bubbling Dublin going to be extracted before or after the scheme
It was all done by hand aswell.
The entire headrace canal and embankments were done by hand, and that’s a bigger volume of material than just about anything out there.
This thing was made in the industrial equivelant of a cave, from a box of scraps.
Anyone know how much power it generates?
hydro power is something you don’t hear much about in talks about renewables these days. I guess the construction is a massive undertaking and cost to benefit might not be that high.
The actual weir up the way in O’Briens bridge is a lot more impressive imo. Maintained to this day. Well worth checking out.
Ive read some of the proposals and reports drafted by the Siemens engineers who did much of the initial planning and design work and the focus on quality and longevity of the whole scheme is amazing.
Combine that with the fact that it wasn’t a paper elephant and was actually built, it makes me so proud to think what could be done in this country with the initial enthusiasm of independence.
Shame that burned out with the economic downturn of the 1930’s and the stranglehold of the Church.