More than just Dinorwig Power Station's public interface, Electric Mountain is a tourist hub incorporating a gallery, cafe and souvenir shop. It also has interactive exhibits on hydropower and is the starting point for a fascinating guided tour into the power station's guts, 750m under Elidir mountain.
The centre is by the lakeside on the A4086, near the southern end of High St.
The Dinorwig pumped-storage power station is the largest scheme of its kind in Europe. Spanning 16km of tunnels deep within the mountain, it required one million tonnes of concrete, 200,000 tonnes of cement and 4500 tonnes of steel to construct, and it incorporates the largest human-made cavern in Europe, big enough to house St Paul's Cathedral (should you wish to do so). The station uses surplus energy to pump water from Llyn Peris up to Marchlyn Reservoir; when half the population switches on their kettles for tea during a TV ad break, the water is released to fall through underground turbines. Dinorwig's reversible turbine pumps are capable of reaching maximum generation in less than 16 seconds.
