Abstract
IN the Asea Journal for February an account is given of the electricity distribution scheme in Northern Ireland. The Irish Free State has built a large water power station on the River Shannon, on the west coast. In Northern Ireland (Ulster), there is also a considerable amount of water power available in the River Bann, which drains a large area round Lough Neagh. A scheme was recently under consideration to build a water power station on this river, but as the question is intimately connected with a land drainage scheme to be carried out by the Government, this scheme has been temporarily suspended. A steam power station has been built in Larne, on the east coast, not far from Belfast. From this station, a 33-kilovolt main transmission line has been taken over the country, through the towns of Ballyclare and Ballymena, with the view of future connexion with the River Bann. The steam power station at Larne has two turbo sets, each of 1750-kilowatt output, and a space has been reserved for one of double the size. In this way the load will be built up gradually, so that when the water power station with its comparatively high initial cost is completed, it will be possible to load it profitably from the start. The electric power will be mainly used by the linen industry, which has long flourished in Ireland. There are also paper mills and cement works in the district, and numerous small townships. A local company in Larne owns the power station and a Belfast company the overhead distribution system.
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Electrification of Ulster. Nature 129, 717–718 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129717c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129717c0