Hydroelectric generator at K Club switched off indefinitely

The generator had been installed at the K Club, near Straffan, Co Kildare, on the resort’s border with the River Liffey late last year.

A hydroelectric generator installed at one of Ireland’s most prestigious golf resorts has been turned off indefinitely following complaints it had been installed without the necessary planning permission.

The generator had been installed at the K Club, near Straffan, Co Kildare, on the resort’s border with the River Liffey late last year.

However, subsequent complaints from anglers and Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) that the generator turbine had been installed without the requisite planning permission and represented a danger to fish stocks, had led to an investigation by Kildare County Council.

That probe had seen the K Club warned it faced a potential €12.7m fine for carrying out an allegedly unauthorised development on the river. 

It has now emerged that in the aftermath of that warning, the turbine, which took 18 months to install, has been switched off for the foreseeable future.

A spokesperson for IFI said the body had met with representatives from the K Club last month.

“IFI requested the unauthorised hydropower generator be deactivated until any risks it posed to fish in the River Liffey were mitigated,” they said.

"The K Club agreed to deactivate the generator. IFI has checked the site on an ongoing basis since then.

"IFI is satisfied that the flow of the river through the deactivated generator and its stationary blades does not endanger fish." 

Kildare County Council said that it “cannot make any comments in respect of any alleged cases of unauthorised Planning Activity/Enforcement so as not to prejudice any potential future legal actions.

“This response does not indicate that Kildare County Council will or will not be taking further legal actions,” a spokesperson said.

The K Club did not respond to a query on the matter.

A company known as Eco Hydro was retained by the K Club last year to “restore and improve” the facility’s existing hydroelectric generator, which uses the flow of the adjacent River Liffey to provide power to the club.

The company’s principal, Robert Quirke, has been in dispute with the HSE over €10.3m worth of unused covid ventilators from China for just under five years, after just 72 of the 328 ventilators ordered were received.