About ESB
Our history, our people and our principles
Oil, coal & gas development
Using imported resources
As the native resource of turf and water were developed to the fullest possible extent, the demand for electricity continued to grow. This growth rate posed problems for the ESB.
If development was not to be hindered, power had to be generated using imported fuels, such as oil, coal and gas.
Oil
Oil burning stations were constructed at Marina in Cork, Great Island in Wexford, Tarbert in Kerry, and Poolbeg in Dublin.
Natural gas
More recently, with the discovery and development of Kinsale gas field there was a changeover from oil to natural gas firing at Marina and Aghada in Cork and North Wall in Dublin.
Poolbeg Station in Ringsend now uses both oil and gas.
Coal
The Moneypoint coal project was also conceived both to give major fuel economies and to become more independent from imported oil as a basis of electricity generation.
Steam coal is considerably cheaper than oil. This huge station has a coal storage capacity of two million tonnes.