County: Laois
Fuel type: Sod peat
Capacity: 38MW
Status: Inactive
Commissioned: 1950
Decommissioned: 1988
Portarlington station was opened in 1950, then Ireland’s first turf-fired generating station, by Minister for Industry, Daniel Morrissey TD, ESB Chairman RF Browne, and the Bishop of Killaloe.
The ceremony was documented by the British Pathé.
The station was designed to use the full output of sod peat fuel produced on the adjoining Clonsast bog. The station was commissioned in 1950. The boiler plant comprised three units with travelling chain grate stokers. Each unit had a normal output of 125,000 pounds of steam per hour. The steam from the boilers operates three 12,500 kW turbo-alternator sets. The steam drove the turbines which were coupled to the generator units. Once the steam was passed through the turbines, it was cooled to pass through the condensers, which drew cooling water from a cooling tower with a circulation capacity of 1,800,000 million gallons per hour.
Portarlington PR Pamphlet, 1970s
At its peak, the station consumed approximately 195,000 tonnes of peat per annum, producing 150 million units of electricity.
Click the image to the left for more technical information relating to Portarlington station, or click here for a comprehensive pictorial history.
Portarlington station was demolished in 1997.
For footage of one of the only passenger trains to operate to Portarlington in 1964, click here.