Hydropower mills may bridge gap

HARD to believe it nowadays, but Ireland had more than 6,000 watermills in the middle of the 19th century.

We are, however, seeing a low key resurgence in small hydro stations to generate electricity for households, businesses, or hotels.

Only 6% of the country’s energy is generated from the power of water, largely through the bigger stations. The ESB hydro station at Ardnacrusha, Co Clare, built in the 1920s, is still our largest renewable energy generating unit. So clearly, given our abundance of free flowing water, there’s huge potential for harnessing rivers and streams — an unexploited resource.