Tours at Ardnacrusha Power Station
Would you like to visit Ireland's largest river hydroelectric scheme? After last year's response to the tours which marked ESB's 90th anniversary, we are once again inviting the public to visit and explore one of Ireland's greatest engineering developments at Ardnacrusha Power Station in Co Clare.
As part of the Shannon hydro-electric scheme, Ardnascrusha took just four years (1925 to 1929) and 5,000 workers to build. Costing more than IR£5m to construct at the time - almost one-fifth of the entire annual budget - Ardnacrusha became a symbol of forward thinking in relation to harnessing Ireland’s natural resources. With the national grid constructed at the same time, the 86 MW capacity was then enough to meet the electricity demands of the whole country. Today, Ardnacrusha represents around 2% of our total installed capacity.
Information for teachers visiting Ardnacrusha Power Station
All school groups booking a visit will be met on arrival by a trained tour guide and will be given an introduction to Ardnacrusha and a safety briefing.
The school/group leader will have overall responsibility for the supervision and conduct of pupils/students during the duration of the visit and should have regard to the health and safety of the group.
The school/group leader will remain with their designated group at all times and keep pupils under constant supervision.
All school/group leaders should be aware that Ardnacrusha is a working generating station and that health and safety is a priority therefore anyone behaving in a way that compromises the health and safety of others, will be asked to leave the site.
Please ensure that you book the correct tour on the system below.
School tours are from 14th May to 22nd June 2018
Public tours are from 25th June to 14th September 2018
Having booked your tour you might also be interested in learning how electricity is generated at Turlough Hill.
Turlough Hill, Ireland's only pumped storage power station, is located 60kms south of Dublin in the Wicklow Mountains. The station generates up to 292MW during peak demand periods by releasing water from it's upper reservoir and allowing it to flow through four turbines to the lower Lough Nahanagan. During periods of lower demand the water is pumped back to the upper reservoir ready to be used again.
Click here to view the 'InsideTurlough Hill' presentation