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220kV Electrical Compound

The electricity is then routed from the Transformer to the 220kV Electrical Compound. From there is exported on to the ESB Network.

Smoothing out the Electricity Demand Curve

The key to making pumped storage work effectively is the timing of when it is run. As Turlough Hill is so responsive, it is an ideal means to help smooth out the peaks and troughs of electricity demand. As you can imagine, demand is higher at certain times during the day. Turlough Hill fulfils a critical function as it is used during times of peak demand in order to supply a quick line of electricity to the National Grid - helps to avoid outages.

Many conventional thermal power stations can take hours to supply electrical energy to the grid, as it takes time to start them up from a 'standing still' position. In comparison, the generation lead time at Turlough Hill is very short at only 70 seconds! The trade-off here is that the generation cycle can only run for about 6 hours in total, whereas thermal stations can run indefinitely once started.

This all underlines the main function of Turlough Hill - to provide a quick supply of electricity to smooth out the national demand curve.