The Salmon Leap & the Hydroelectric Station
In the 17th and 18th Centuries the Salmon Leap and The Spa
to the West were tourist attractions. As a celebrated beauty
spot John Bush, author of Hibernia Curiosa, recorded a grand
waterfall of 20 feet with several lesser falls above it. The
total height being the same as at the aqueduct over the Rye
Water or nearly 80 feet.
This century following World War II the Irish government
conducted a policy of self-sufficiency and in 1948 the Electricity
Supply Board (ESB) completed the construction of a dam100
metres long and 24 metres high across the river Liffey below
the site of the salmon leap weir. The Leixlip power station
is only one of three in the country.
In the dam a Kaplan turbine and electricity generator was
installed. Its capacity of four megawatts is enough to heat
4,000 single bar electric fires simultaneously. The head of
water behind the dam created a 100-acre artificial lake which
has become home to the Salmon Leap Canoe Club and a course
fishing spot.
The generated voltage is approximately 10,000V which is transformed
into 38,000V for transmission to the national grid. The power
station is remotely controlled from Turlough Hill and annually
generates an average of 13 million units of electricity. This
is less than one percent of the ESB's total production but
is regarded as a strategic source of pollution-free power.
The Irish government has since adopted a policy of creating
a linear park along the course of the Liffey. At Leixlip this
means coordinating two plans, the one for the Liffey and the
second for the Royal Canal creating a unique protective green
belt with water.
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