Inniscarra Dam
| Inniscarra Dam | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Inniscarra Dam Location within Ireland | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Location | County Cork |
| Coordinates | 51°54′00″N 8°39′43″W / 51.90000°N 8.66194°W |
| Purpose | Power |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | February 1953 |
| Opening date | 1957 |
| Construction cost | £4.5 million.[1] |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Buttress |
| Impounds | River Lee |
| Height | 45 m (148 ft) |
| Length | 247 m (810 ft) |
| Spillways | 3 |
| Spillway length | 12 metres (39 ft) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Inniscarra Lake |
| Power Station | |
| Commission date | 1957 |
| Turbines |
|
| Installed capacity | 19 MW |
Inniscarra Dam is a buttress dam located on the River Lee in the civil parish of Inniscarra in County Cork, Ireland. Construction of the dam started in February 1953 and resulted in the formation of the Inniscarra Reservoir.[3] It was built at an original cost of £4.5 million.[1]
The dam is owned and operated by the ESB Group and has a generation capacity of 19 MW[4] via its twin vertical-shaft Kaplan turbine generators[1] built by Voith.[4] Power is generated at 10.5 kV, and subsequently stepped up to 38kV and 100kV for long-distance transmission.[1]
The dam over-flooded in November 2009 and caused around 100 million euros worth of damage to the city, with University College Cork having claimed that the flood damaged 20 million euros worth of its property.[5]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "The River Lee Hydro-electric Scheme" (PDF). ESB Group. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
- ↑ "Hydroelectric Power Plants in Ireland". IndustCards.
{{cite web}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help)CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ Kieran McCarthy (12 June 2008). "In the Footsteps of St Finbarre (Part 120) Building Inniscarra Dam". Cork Independent. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - 1 2 "Our Generation Portfolio". ESB Corporate. ESB Group. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
Overall, the [Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid] stations have a combined capacity of 27 MW. Inniscarra has two generating units: one produces 15 MW and the other produces 4 MW. Carrigadrohid has [..] a capacity of 8 MW
- ↑ Carolan, Mary (5 October 2015). "Court ruling on Cork flood damage could cost ESB millions". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
