Location: |
At A4086 near Llanberis, Snowdonia.
(53.118692, -4.121877) |
Open: |
Currently closed for refurbishment. [2020] |
Fee: |
Currently closed for refurbishment. [2020] |
Classification: | Hydroelectric Power Plant |
Light: |
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Dimension: | Dinorwig: L=16 km. |
Guided tours: | Currently closed for refurbishment. [2020] |
Photography: | allowed |
Accessibility: | center wheelchair accessible, one standard sized wheelchair allowed per tour |
Bibliography: | |
Address: |
Electric Mountain Visitor Centre, Mynydd Gwefru, Llanberis, Gwynedd, LL55 4UR, Tel: +44-1286-870636
E-mail: |
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info. |
1970 | beginning of project to crate pumped storage plants. |
1973 | beginning of construction at Dinorwig. |
1976 | main civil engineering contract started. |
1982 | first electricity produced. |
1984 | scheme in full production and officially opened. |
2018 | Visitor Center closed for refurbishment. |
2020 | Guided tours discontinued until reopening of Visitor Center. |
First Hydro Company operates various hydroelectric power stations in Britain. This includes the management and operation of the pumped storage plants at Dinorwig and Ffestiniog in the Snowdonia region of Wales. Dinorwig are former slate quarries and so the water scheme was considered a subsequent use of an landscape already heavily alterated by human. Ffestiniog Power Station was the UK’s first major pumped storage power facility commissioned in 1963.
The Visitor Center offers exhibits on the power scheme, the pumped storage, the historic mining and much more. It is also the start for guided tours to the power station and the miles of underground tunnels. Currently [2020] the center is closed and there are no tours this year. The will be held again after the construction of the new Visitor Center is completed.