Ardnacrusha, originally The Shannon Scheme, is Ireland's largest river hydroelectric scheme and is operated on the River Shannon near Limerick City, Ireland. The plant includes fish ladders so that returning salmon etc. can climb the river safely past the power station.
Ardnacrusha was built under the leadership of the German firm Siemens_Schuckertwerke during the mid 1920s and was a major project undertaken by the then new Irish Free State. In 1925 the works commenced after the passing of the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 (http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1925-26.html), by 1927 the project was at an advanced state, and by this time the Electricity Supply Board was established and took control of the scheme and electricity supply and generation generally.
External links
Electricity Supply Board - background on establishment (http://www.esb.ie/main/about_esb/history.jsp)
The generating plant at Ardnacrusha is composed of three vertical-shaft Francis turbo-generators (installed in 1929) and one vertical -shaft Kaplan turbo-generator (installed in 1934) operating under an average head of 28.5 meters.
Ardnacrusha was built under the leadership of the German firm Siemens-Schuckertwerke during the mid-1920s and was a major project undertaken by the then new Irish Free State.