Our history, our people and our principles
About Turlough Hill
Turlough Hill is an ESB pumped storage hydro-electric station. Construction on the station began in 1968 and ended six years later. It involved the building of a huge cavern in the heart of the mountain, in which the generation plant and controls are housed.
How it works
A pumped storage system allows for the use of excess electricity capacity during non-peak hours to pump water from the lower to the upper Lake at Turlough Hill and then to release water in the reverse direction to create electricity in times of maximum demand.
With a pumped storage system, extra electricity is available immediately unlike a conventional oil or gas generating station.