North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

The Kettle, Boiling

It's a bit unsettling standing ankle-deep in freezing cold water while listening to the crackle and spit of high voltage electricity just overhead. The powerlines stand in meadows near the river during the summer, but in winter, the Shannon Callows flood across the flat landscape .

The powerstation at Shannonbridge might be located on a crossing point of Ireland's largest river but it draws its power from the bogs that surround it. The powerstation is powered by burning milled peat [which boils the river water, generating steam which turns the turbines ]. Between the fizz of the powerlines, and the clatter of the rail cars, my evening shoot wasn't quite the solitary experience that I anticipated.

Despite the fact that the station is only a few years old, it has already undergone a refit. It seems that the river water is a bit too much for the plumbing, which corroded, requiring a shutdown [though it looks to be open again now]

Posted by Monasette at December 19, 2007 11:41 PM