COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, November 08, 2010

QUESTION NO. 23

QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney

To ask the Manager to provide a report on the potential for micro hyrdoelectric generation on rivers in the County, including the Liffey, Dodder, Poddle and Camac, while noting the need to preserve and protect the visual and environmental amenity provided by those rivers?

REPLY:

Most rivers and streams in South Dublin County Council area are in the ownership of the landowners through whose land they flow and only in the situation where they flow through public parks would South Dublin County Council have any jurisdiction over them. The River Liffey would be an exception to the above situation as it is controlled by the ESB by an Act of Parliament and there are already two hydroelectrical dams on it at Leixlip and Ballymore Eustace. The potential for generating electricity from micro hydroelectrical stations at weirs through water wheels will be taken up with our Parks Department. Small hydro stations have advantages over wind, wave and solar power in that they have 1) high efficiency  (70-90%), by far the best of all energy technologies, 2) a high capacity factor (typically >50%) compared with 10% for solar and 30% for wind, 3) a high level of predictability varying with annual rainfall patterns and 4) slow rate of change –the output power varies only gradually from day to day (not from minute to minute).