Site Records

Culligran Power Station - Machine Hall

I've always thought of Culligran as having a very attractive machine hall - the 'flat top' generator layout gives a feeling of spaciousness, and the pyramidal tiles lining the walls do a good job of providing even illumination. Unfortunately the poor rock conditions made it impossible to leave the walls bare rock, which would have made the station even prettier.

There are two generator sets at Culligran, the main set of 22MW, driven by a Deriaz turbine (similar to a Kaplan but with a different blade design to make it suitable for higher heads), and a 2MW compensation machine driven by a Francis turbine. The normal operating head is 180ft.

The machine hall itself is a simple excavation, pierced only by the (unseen) inlet penstock and outlet draft tubes, the vent shaft, and the access tunnel.

Photo: Culligran machine hall, construction just finished.
Note the small size of the compensation set in the foreground.
Photo by: NOSHEB archives.

Photo: Culligran - view of generator floor from loading bay.
Photo by: Mike Ross

Photo: Culligran - view of machine hall from loading bay.
Photo by: Mike Ross

Photo: Culligran - on top of 22MW set, looking towards loading bay.
Photo by: Mike Ross

Photo: Culligran - 2MW compensation set.
Note difference between this and the archive picture: the blue housing surrounding the compensation set is a modern innovation, on H & S grounds - the compensation set, although small, produced a hell of a noise out of all proportion to its size. Hence, the sound-deadening housing.
Photo by: Mike Ross

Photo: Culligran - Very nice shot. An overview of the machine hall, from the crane gantry.
Big overhaul in progress - the MIV is out, the main set is in pieces, the walls have been stripped. Compensation set is still running.
Photo by: Mike Ros

Photo: Culligran - Nice shot of the stiar that lead from the loading bay to the generator floor. The further flight of stairs going down leads to the turbine floor...
Photo by: Mike Ros

Photo: Culligran - the turbine floor, 'below decks' - the shaft, and the top of the turbine, for the 2MW compensation set.
Photo by: Mike Ros

Photo: Culligran - the top of the turbine, and control gear for the main 22MW set.
Photo by: Mike Ross.

From the archives: Culligran machine hall, looking down from loading bay, excavation pretty much finished.
Note the tunnels on the left-hand wall - the portals for the high-pressure tunnels..
Photo by: NOSHEB archives.

From the archives: Culligran machine hall, looking up from basement level.
Draft tube tunnel being excavated on the left, access tunnel entrance visible at top right.
Photo by: NOSHEB archives.

On the occasion of my last visit to Culligran, the station was being extensively refurbished. Some photographs of normally-inaccessible areas were taken and can be seen on my Culligran Refurbishment page.

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