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Ardnacrusha

Hydro power plant in Ireland, Ireland. Approximate location 52.7056, -8.6128.

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Ardnacrusha is a 86 MW hydro power plant in Ireland, Ireland. It is operated by ESBPG. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 86,098 homes (estimated). It ranks #21 of 64 Ireland power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 2.1% of Ireland's electricity; the national grid averages 257 gCO₂/kWh (48.1% low-carbon) (2025).

86MW installed capacity
86,098homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1002815.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Ireland

Turlough Hill: 292 MW292Turlough H…Ardnacrusha: 86 MW86ArdnacrushaLee: 27 MW27Lee

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by ESBPG. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 52.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

10.1°Cannual mean temp
2,883heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
50 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 5 °CJF: 6 °CFM: 7 °CMA: 9 °CAM: 11 °CMJ: 14 °CJJ: 16 °CJA: 15 °CAS: 13 °CSO: 11 °CON: 8 °CND: 6 °CD16 °C

Heating degree-days here run 17% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 59/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #2 largest hydro power plant of 3 in Ireland by capacity.

Ireland has 3 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 405 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 52.7056, -8.6128 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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