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Culligran Power Station - Switchgear & Battery rooms

Two linked chambers have been excavated on the left side of the access tunnel, just before it enters the machine hall. The first of these contains the 11kV switchgear which handles the output from the station. The second chamber contains a storeroom, mess, and the batteries which provide emergency power to the station.

Heading up the access tunnel from the power station, the first alcove has two doors - the closed door on the left gives access to a small office/mess room, the open door further in on the right gives access to ...
Photo by: Mike Ross

... switchgear and control equipment. The door to the left give access to the tunnel shown below. The stairs on the right....
Photo by: Mike Ross

...give access to the upstairs room housing the station batteries. (Why does a power station need batteries? To allow it to 'cold start' if it has no mains suplly! Why did they put all the heavy batteries upstairs ? I have no bloody idea!)
Photo by: Mike Ross

The door in the chamber above gives access to an unlined tunnel which slopes steeply up to the second chamber off this side of the access tunnel. It contains the main breaker.
Photo by: Mike Ross

The breaker room, looking back down the tunnel to the switchgear room.
Photo by: Mike Ross

The main breaker itself - standard big old circuit breaker, 11KV, trips if something screws up.
Photo by: Mike Ross

Looking into the breaker room from the access tunnel.
Photo by: Mike Ross

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