Reading: electricity in Ireland
Electricity in Ireland
The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) was founded by the Irish Government in 1927 to bring electricity to towns in Ireland.
To do this, the ESB has built a national network or grid involving power stations and pylons to carry electricity all around the country. Most ESB power stations use peat, oil, coal and gas to generate electricity.
The biggest power station is in Moneypoint, County Clare. This station uses coal to generate electricity. At the moment, this station produces just less than half of all the electricity for I reland.
Six ESB stations generate electricity using water. This is known as hydroelectricity. The two best known examples of hydroelectricity stations are Ardnacrusha on the river Shannon in County Clare and Turlough Hill in County Wicklow.
As well as hydroelectricity, the ESB also buys electricity from wind farms around Ireland. Both wind and water are known as renewable energy sources. These do not generate air pollution
and will become more important for the future as fuels such as oil and coal disappear.
