IRISH FREE STATE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 304, 10 December 1929, Page 9

IRISH FREE STATE

HYDRO-ELECTRICAL VENTURE

THE GREAT SHANNON RIVER HARNESSED

Cheap Current for Homes and Industries

With New Zealand’s total expenditure of somewhere about £j i. 000.000 upon the development of this country’s water power, the people here are naturally interested in the progress of hydro-electrical schemes in othpr parts of the world. Havrng this in view we place before our readers to-night summarised details of the electrification of the Shannon River which is ultimately to produce as much electricity as the Irish Free State is likely to require within the next too years. It is interesting to note that although the Free State has a population of 3,000,000, approximately double that of New Zealand, there was at first a considerable body of expert opposition to the construction of the Shannon scheme, at a cost of £5,500,000, it being contended that it would be a mistake to put all the natipnal eggs into one basket, and that the electrification of the country ought to take place gradually. Little New Zealand with (as before stated) half the population of the Free State, many years ago bravely authorised the expenditure of double the number of millions of pounds sterling on hei hydro schemes However, as in New Zealand, so in the Free State, the commitments were made, and early in November last saw the completion of the Shannon contract and the return to their own country of the 400 Germans who undertook it. On the Free State taking over the completed work it was announced that the current was to be sold to consumers at a penny to twopence per unit, plus a small weekly charge hardly worth mentioning. When comparison is made of the Free State rates with those now effective in Hawke’s Bay, lighting 8d per unit and power 3d pet unit, the question naturally follows as to why we here, with all our wonderful natural resources in water power, cannot be supplied with current for all purposes very much cheaper than what is now being charged. The details of the Shannon scheme are as follows:—

HISTORY OF SHANNON SCHEME

EARLY OPPOSITION AND DIFFICULTIES. PROPOSAL VIEWED WITH APPREHENSION. Few chapters in Irish history make more inspiring reading than that which has brought to a successful conclusion the story of the harness ing of Ireland’s greatest river to provide light, heat and power foi hei people. For courage, resourcefulness and vision, the hydro-electric exploitation of the Shannon will pass down to posterity as the most daring national adventure recorded in the annals of the country. Embarked upon at a time when the newly formed State was still staggering under the blow of civil war, when an unbalanced budget and heavy taxation had reduced public confidence to its lowest ehb, this vast and novel scheme- -involving an outlay of £5, 500,000 of public money, with a further £2.000.000 for distribution—not unnaturally called forth a storm of indignant protest. From the outset its promoters were met with a solid phalanx of stubborn opponents. Political, financial, engineering and commercial interests combined in a determined effort to avert what they strongly asserted must lead to national disaster. Added to this, unforeseen difficulties connected with land aud water rights cropped up. followed by labour troubles when constructional operations began, and the nersistent opposition of municipal and private owners of profit-making nlants, who viewed with apprehen sion the proposed nationalisation of electrio current.

A GREAT NATIONAL INDUSTRY Convinced, however, on the one hand of the urgency of freeing Ireland from her dependence on im ported coal, and, on the other, of the economic and technical soundness of the Shannon development proposal, the Free State Ministers unswery-, ingly and intrepidly pursued their plans for the utilisation of home resources It is due to the clear-sight-edness, determination and energy of William T. Cosgrave’s Government that the Irish Free State is now the proud possessor of a great nationalised key industry. Proceeding with the utmost caution, the first step was to invite a committee of Swedish and Swiss engineering experts of international repute to examine and report ou the Shannon water power scheme, which, inspired by a young Irish engineer. Dr. Thomas M’Laughlin, had been submitted to them by Messrs. Siemens Schuckert of Berlin, by whom Dr M’Laughlin was then employed. Tile experts reported so favourably as to dispel all doubts regarding tho feasibility of the undertaking, and the contract for the largest constructional works ever carried out on Irish soil was forthwith placed in the hands of Messrs. Siemens Schuckert. In September. 1925, the work began and the quiet banks of the Shannon hecame a hive of industry Now, in tho space of four short years -well within the scheduled time — the engineers’ task is finished, and electric current, generated at the Shannon power station, flows through nn intricate network of wires stretching over tho length and breadth of the Free State.

MAKING A WATERFALL. The engineers’ plan of campaign consisted in harnessing the river at the point of its greatest natural flow, that is to say in the stretch of 12 miles between Lough Derg and Lim “rick, and in converting the gradual descent of the river into an abrupt waterfall. As shown on the diagram map. this necessitated tho diversion f the Shannon from its natural bed ind the construction of A canal 71 miles long. 44 feet deep and 102 feet wide, through which the diverted stream flows to plunge. 100 feet into the power station built at ArdnacrushA. a few miles north of Limerick City. The water here is guided down through three steel penstocks of almost 20 feet diameter to feeft the three gigantic turbines, each of

28.600 horsepower, which drive three equally gigantic 30,000-kilowatt generators. Messrs. Siemens Schuckert claim that this installation is the most powerful and up-to-date electrical plant. in the world. The generated current is distributed from an adjacent transforming station by high tension overhead lines to transforming stations to Cork and Dublin, whence it is transmitted over low tension overhead wires to every town in the Free State with a population >f over 500.

The present partial development of the Shannon yields an output of 288,000,000 units, sufficient to meet the existing demand, but the scheme is designed to permit of two further stages of development, for which the waters of Loughs Allen and Rea, situated in the upper reaches, of the river, have been reserved as storage basins. Preparations are made for the installation of three extra turbines in the power house when the consumption of current necessitates i larger output, and it is anticipated that by. the year 1931 the power station mil be working to its full capacity.

Germans have gone home. Four hundred Germans and 4000 Irishmen were engaged on the constructional work. All the Germans have now returned to their own country, and the electrical supply is being administered, maintained, distributed and marketed by an all-lrish staff, with the exception of two Scan■inavian engineers, who will seive for a period of two years. The whole undertaking is governed by the Electricity Supply Board, a semi-official, statutory body, composed entirely of Irishmen Though appointed by the Government, it stands outside the pale of political influence, but must submit a report and balance sheet annually for the scrutiny of the Dail. One of the first objectives of the board is to secure that current will reach the consumer at the lowest possible price compatible with the all-in cost of production. Toward this desirable end, 64 municipal and private electrical plants have been taken over by the board, and the Shannon supply is therefore owned solely by the State for the benefit of the State. As each additional consumer reduces the cost to all, every effort is being made to popularise the use of electricity. Householders have been quick to realise its many advantages in cleanliness, efficiency and comfort, and the first great increase in the demand for current is expected to come from the domestic users. To assist the householder whose financial resources leave no margin for capital outlay, the supply board is wiring houses and supplying appliances on an easy system of hire purchase, thus enabling people of even the most limited means to install electricity for all domestic purposes.

A FIXED ANNUAL CHARGE Current is sold on the basis of a fixed annual charge, ranging from 6d to 2s a week, according to the valuation of the premises, plus Id to 2d per unit for all electricity used—a system technically known as the twopart tariff. The extent to which electricity will he applied to industries is still a matter of conjecture, but in addition to the existing industrial concerns which are more than likely to substitute electricity for steam and oil, there must be taken into consideration the wave of industrial development which is sweeping over the Free State. Attracted no doubt by the certainty of a cheap and plentiful power supply, coupled with the added inducement of protective tariffs, a crop of new factories has suddenly sprung into being. The success of Henry Ford’s -works in Cork - incidentally the largest consumers of Shannon current—should, it is felt, have the effect of attracting other great industrialists to operate on an equivalent scale in the Free State. Though much doubt has heen expressed as to the possibility of finding a market for all the current generated—and it must 1 membered that the financial - of the enterprise depends on the

utilisation of the full output—it is officially stated that the demand has developed so rapidly that the board is satisfied that the scheme will be self-supporting within three years. While the experts calculated that a consumption of 110,000,000 units in 1982 would make it a paying proposition, official facts and figures now indicate that in the year 1932 the consumption will reach 144,000,000 units. In giving to the country this great key industry—the Government has not only shown its capacity for achieving economic developments of wide national scope, but has inspired confidence among the people of the Free State and enhanced the prestige of their country abroad.