Electric Mountain Visitor Centre

Useful Information

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:	Incandescent Electric Light System
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.

History

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.

Description

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.