Ardnacrusha
| Ardnacrusha | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| location | ||
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| Coordinates | 52 ° 42 '20 " N , 8 ° 36' 46" W | |
| country | Ireland | |
| Waters | Shannon | |
| power plant | ||
| Start of operation | 1929 | |
| technology | ||
| Bottleneck performance | 86 megawatts | |
| Average height of fall |
28.5 m | |
| Standard work capacity | 332 million kWh / year | |
| Turbines | 3 Francis turbines with 21 MW each 1 Kaplan turbine with 22.5 MW |
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| Others | ||
Ardnacrusha ( Irish Ard na Croise , means "height or hill of the cross") is a village with about 900 inhabitants in County Clare seven kilometers north of Limerick . Well known is the nearby run-of-river power station The Shannon Scheme . It is the largest in Ireland .
power plant
The power plant was opened on July 22, 1929 after four years of construction. The Siemens-Schuckertwerke played a key role in the construction, and the chief designer Thomas McLaughlin (later head of the Irish state-owned electricity company ESB ) was an employee of SSW . The power station then supplied 90% of all Irish electricity, today this share is still around 2%. Four turbines (3 Kaplan, from 1933 still a Francis with 38,000 HP each) are rigidly connected to the generators above via standing waves. The upstream water reaches the turbines via four downpipes, each 6 m in diameter. The total output to date is around 120 MVA. It can be regulated depending on the amount of water coming up via the reservoirs and weirs in the upper reaches of the Shannon.
The Ardnacrusha power plant has an installed capacity of 86 MW . The average annual production is 332 million kWh. 3 Francis turbines with 21 MW each and a Kaplan turbine with 22.5 MW are installed.
The power station is fed via a canal from the River Shannon . The height difference is 28.5 m and is bridged for shipping with a two-chamber lock . There is a fish ladder on the side of the dam for migratory fish such as salmon , young eels are collected in tanks at the foot of the structure and transported up by trucks.
The Shannon Scheme was added to the List of International Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2002.
The power plant was part of a grid expansion plan for Ireland, which until now had only been electrified in larger cities. Connected to Ardnacrusha were two 110 kV lines to Cork and Dublin, as well as a network of 37.5 kV lines, which are used to supply the rural regions with electricity. Since the steel for the masts was cheaper to manufacture in Germany, the masts were made in Germany and brought to Ireland. The mast picture is reminiscent of Christmas tree masts of German design, but the crossbars taper from top to bottom.
See also
Web links
Literature, sources, links
- Jane Cumberlidge: Inland Waters Ireland. All navigable rivers and canals (guide to inland waters) . Edition Maritim, 2003, ISBN 978-3892254683
- http://www.siemens.com/history/de/aktuelles/1122_shannon.htm (building history of the Shannon project, German)
Individual evidence
- ^ Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Power Plant Ireland. Global Energy Observatory, accessed July 15, 2016 .
- ^ Shannon Scheme Reports