List of power stations in Northern Ireland
This is a list of electricity-generating power stations in Northern Ireland, sorted by type and name, with installed capacity (May 2011).
Note that the Digest of United Kingdom energy statistics (DUKES) maintains a comprehensive list of United Kingdom power stations, accessible through the Department of Energy and Climate Change here.
*Joint venture with Scottish and Southern Energy
Nuclear power stations
There are no nuclear power stations in Northern Ireland and currently no plans to develop.
Tidal Power
Northern Ireland was home to the world's first commercially viable tidal stream generator.[1] Trials were begun in Scotland then in England, before Marine Current Turbines installed the thousand-tonne[2] SeaGen turbine at the mouth of Strangford Lough. The lough was chosen because it has one of the fastest tidal flows in the world. The installation went live and was connected to the grid in mid-December, 2008, injecting an extra 1.2 megawatts of electricity.[3]
The turbine is scheduled to produce power for five years, though Marine Current Turbines were reported to have asked for an extension beyond their 2013 contract.[4] By March 2010, the turbine had passed an operating time of over 1,000 hours - a first for any marine energy device.[4]
Impact to the environment was closely scrutinised.[2] The device, built in Belfast's famous Harland and Wolff shipyard, is rigged with a sonar device which stops the motion of the rotor blades when it detects marine lifeform near it. While there has been no negative affect to the environment - a special protected wildlife area - it has been noticed that porpoises stop communicating while passing the device.[4]
See also
- List of power stations in England
- List of power stations in Scotland
- List of power stations in Wales
