Dinorwig Power Station

{{Stack|File:Dinorwic Quarry Map.png and Dinorwic Railway]]}}

The scheme was built at a time when responsibility for electricity generation in England and Wales was in the hands of the government's Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB); with the purpose of providing peak capacity, very rapid response, energy storage and frequency control. Dinorwig's very rapid response capability significantly reduced the need to hold spinning reserve on part loaded thermal plant. When the plant was conceived the CEGB used low efficiency old coal and oil fired capacity to meet peaks in demand. More efficient 500{{nbsp}}MW thermal sets were introduced in the 1960s, initially for baseload operation only. Dinorwig could store cheap energy produced at night by low marginal cost plant and then generate during times of peak demand, so displacing low efficiency plant during peak demand periods.

There were plans for a pumped storage facility near Exmoor but it was not built.{{cite web|url=http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/the-big-story/grid-connected-energy-storage-a-new-piece-in-the-uk-energy-puzzle/1014536.article|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127130014/http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/the-big-story/grid-connected-energy-storage-a-new-piece-in-the-uk-energy-puzzle/1014536.article|archive-date=27 January 2013|url-status=dead|title=Grid-connected energy storage: a new piece in the UK energy puzzle|website=theengineer.co.uk |first=Stuart |last=Nathan |publisher=The Engineer|date=8 November 2012}} With the increase of renewables such as wind and solar power, the need for storage is expected to increase to deal with intermittency.{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48553/5767-understanding-the-balancing-challenge.pdf |title=Understanding the Balancing Challenge |publisher=Imperial College London |first1=Goran |last1=Strbac |first2=Marko |last2=Aunedi |first3=Danny |last3=Pudjianto |first4=Predrag |last4=Djapic |first5=Sean |last5=Gammons |first6=Richard |last6=Druce |date=August 2012 |access-date=22 January 2015}}"{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160328003033/http://www.efn-uk.org/l-street/politics-lib/gov-agents/index_files/ICLenergy-storage2012.pdf Strategic Assessment of the Role and Value of Energy Storage Systems in the UK Low Carbon Energy Future]}}" Imperial College London, June 2012. Retrieved: 21 September 2022. Size: 4.5MB in 108 pages.{{cite web |url=http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-7/features/a-closing-window-of-opportunity.html |title=A closing window of opportunity |publisher=Quarry Battery Company |last=Homes |first=David |website=powerengineeringint.com |date=26 August 2014 |access-date=22 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122041110/http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-7/features/a-closing-window-of-opportunity.html |archive-date=22 January 2015 |url-status=dead}} A 50 MW pumped storage facility at nearby Glyn Rhonwy in disused slate pits was approved in 2013, with an expected cost of £120 million. As of 2019, this project has reached the "detailed engineering design" stage.{{cite web |title=Project Status |url=https://www.snowdoniapumpedhydro.com/project-status |access-date=21 October 2019 |website=Snowdonia Pumped Hydro}}

Dinorwig is operated not only to help meet peak loads but also as a short term operating reserve (STOR), providing a fast response to short-term rapid changes in power demand or sudden loss of power stations. In a common scenario (known as TV pickup), the end of a popular national television programme or advertising breaks in commercial television programmes results in millions of consumers switching on electric kettles in the space of a few minutes, leading to overall demand increases of up to 2,800{{nbsp}}MW.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonlyres/1C4B1304-ED58-4631-8A84-3859FB8B4B38/17136/demand.pdf|title=National Grid leaflet: "Forecasting Demand"|access-date=3 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229024828/http://www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonlyres/1C4B1304-ED58-4631-8A84-3859FB8B4B38/17136/demand.pdf|archive-date=29 December 2009|url-status=dead}}

In 2016 it was suggested that in Britain's open energy market the financial justification for pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES) was hard to quantify. Arbitrage allows PHES operators to charge high prices for energy supplied at short notice when demand is high but studies suggest that revenue from sales alone, even at peak prices, does not warrant the initial investment; projections for similar projects indicate a payback time of up to forty years. Additionally, however, Dinorwig PHES receives a steady income for maintaining a permanent on-call capacity for urgent frequency regulation; in 2016 this was approximately £10.8{{nbsp}}million.{{cite journal |last1=Barbour |first1=Edward |last2=Wilson |first2=I. A. Grant |last3=Radcliffe |first3=Jonathan |last4=Ding |first4=Yulong |last5=Li |first5=Yongliang |title=A review of pumped hydro energy storage development in significant international electricity markets |journal=Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews |volume=61 |doi=10.1016/j.rser.2016.04.019 |date=1 August 2016|pages=421–432|s2cid=55992075 |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/98992/1/Manuscript_final.pdf }}

The scheme was constructed under the terms of the North Wales Hydro Electric Power Act 1973. It was constructed in the abandoned Dinorwic slate quarry. To preserve the natural beauty of Snowdonia National Park, the power station itself is located deep inside the mountain Elidir Fawr, inside tunnels and caverns. The project – begun in 1974 and taking ten years to complete at a cost of £425{{nbsp}}millionDinorwig – The Electric Mountain, Elaine Williams, A National Grid Publication, 1991 – was the largest civil engineering contract ever awarded by the UK government at the time. The work was undertaken by an Alfred McAlpine / Brand / Zschokke consortium.Gray, p. 14 Twelve million tonnes (12,000,000{{nbsp}}long{{nbsp}}tons; 13,000,000{{nbsp}}short{{nbsp}}tons) of rock had to be moved from inside the mountain, creating tunnels wide enough for two lorries to pass comfortably and an enormous cavern {{convert|51|m}} tall, {{convert|180|m}} long, and {{convert|23|m}} wide known as "the concert hall".[http://www.fhc.co.uk/dinorwig.htm International Power] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512031732/http://www.fhc.co.uk/dinorwig.htm |date=12 May 2016 }}

The power station is connected to the National Grid substation at Pentir by 400{{nbsp}}kV cables that are buried for approximately {{convert|6|mi|km|disp=flip|0}}, rather than using transmission towers or pylons to transmit the electricity across an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The power station comprises six 300{{nbsp}}MW GEC generator/motors coupled to Francis-type reversible turbines. The generators are vertical-shaft, salient-pole, air-cooled units each having 12 electromagnetic poles weighing 10{{nbsp}}tonnes each, producing a terminal voltage of 18{{nbsp}}kV; synchronous speed is 500{{nbsp}}rpm. From standstill, a single 450-tonne generator can synchronise and achieve full load in approximately 75{{nbsp}}seconds. With all six units synchronised and spinning-in-air (water is dispelled by compressed air and the unit draws a small amount of power to spin the shaft at full speed), 0{{nbsp}}MW to 1800{{nbsp}}MW load can be achieved in approximately 16{{nbsp}}seconds.[http://www.fhc.co.uk/dinorwig.htm First Hydro webpage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512031732/http://www.fhc.co.uk/dinorwig.htm |date=12 May 2016 }} Once running, at full flow, the station can provide power for up to six hours before running out of water.{{cite web|url=http://www.electricmountain.co.uk/Dinorwig-Power-Station|title=Electric Mountain - Dinorwig Power Station|website=electricmountain.co.uk|access-date=7 April 2018|archive-date=7 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807152453/http://www.electricmountain.co.uk/Dinorwig-Power-Station|url-status=dead}}

The energy storage capacity of the station is approximately 9.1{{nbsp}}GWh.{{cite book|last1=MacKay|first1=David JC|title=Sustainable Energy - without the hot air|url=https://archive.org/details/sewtha|date=2009|publisher=UIT|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-9544529-3-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/sewtha/page/n203 191]}} At peak output water flows through the generators at {{convert|390|m3|impgal|abbr=off}} per second (about the volume of a {{cvt|25|metre|yard}} swimming pool every second).{{cite web|last1=Gilbert|first1=Jeffrey|title=Volume of a Swimming Pool|url=https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/JeffreyGilbert.shtml|access-date=3 December 2017}}

Image:ElidirFawrWales.jpg with Marchlyn Mawr at right]]

Image:Dinorwig Power Station.jpg

Water is stored at {{convert|636|m|0}} above sea level in Marchlyn Mawr reservoir. When power needs to be generated, water from the reservoir is sent down through the turbines into Llyn Peris, which is at approximately {{convert|100|m|-1}}. Water is pumped back from Llyn Peris to Marchlyn Mawr during off-peak times. Although it uses more energy to pump the water up than is generated on the way down, pumping is generally done when electricity is cheaper and generation when it is more expensive.

The plant runs on average at 74–76% efficiency.{{cite web|url=http://www.iprplc-gdfsuez.com/~/media/Files/I/IPR-Plc/Attachments/presentations-pdfs/2005/hydrosite05.pdf|title=First Hydro Analysts Conference|access-date=8 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307091954/http://www.iprplc-gdfsuez.com/~/media/Files/I/IPR-Plc/Attachments/presentations-pdfs/2005/hydrosite05.pdf|archive-date=7 March 2014|url-status=dead}} It fills an important need in the system by responding to sudden surges in electricity demand because of its rapid ability to deliver power on load spikes. One of the alternatives would be to have spare capacity from conventional power stations running part loaded ("spinning reserve"), hence at lower efficiency than otherwise, and thus capable of being rapidly run up to full load. Other forms of power plant compete in this market for reserve power such as gas turbines and diesel generators for the National Grid Reserve Service.

Excess water will overflow to Llyn Padarn and is then lost from the reservoir system. Both Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn were ancestral homes to the Arctic char, a rare fish in the United Kingdom. When the scheme was commissioned, a fish rescue was undertaken to transfer the char from Llyn Peris to other local suitable lakes and it is believed that due to the very variable water levels in Llyn Peris, Arctic char are now absent from the lake.

The power station was also promoted as a tourist attraction, with visitors able to take a minibus trip from "Electric Mountain" – the name of its nearby visitor centre in Llanberis – to see the workings inside the power station;{{cite web|url=http://electricmountain.co.uk/|title=Electric Mountain - Home|first=Electric|last=Mountain|website=electricmountain.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195615/http://electricmountain.co.uk/ |archive-date=2016-03-04}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/16/geeks_guide_electric_mountain/ |title=Inside Electric Mountain: Britain's biggest rechargeable battery |author=SA Mathieson |newspaper=The Register |date=16 May 2016 |access-date=27 June 2016}} 132,000 people visited the attraction in 2015.{{cite web|title=Wales Visitor Attractions Survey 2015|url=https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/statistics-and-research/2019-05/visitor-attractions-survey-2015.pdf|website=Welsh Government: Visits to Tourist Attractions|access-date=5 May 2025}} In 2021, First Hydro Company announced that tours inside the power station would cease and the visitor centre would close,{{Cite web |title=First Hydro Company - Electric Mountain Refurbishment Update |url=https://www.fhc.co.uk/en/news/electric-mountain-refurbishment-update/ |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=www.fhc.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315153404/https://www.fhc.co.uk/en/news/electric-mountain-refurbishment-update/ |archive-date=2024-03-15}} and then that the visitor centre would be demolished in 2023.{{Cite web |title=First Hydro Company - Electric Mountain |url=https://www.fhc.co.uk/en/electric-mountain-visitor-centre/ |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=www.fhc.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315153403/https://www.fhc.co.uk/en/electric-mountain-visitor-centre/ |archive-date=2024-03-15}} However, they say 'The power station underneath Dinorwig Quarry remains a feat of engineering that is of national significance and we would hope to find an alternative, viable way, to showcase its operations in the future.'

• Control of the National Grid
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Grid energy storage
• List of pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations
• List of energy storage projects
• Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Gray|first=Tony|title=The Road to Success: Alfred McAlpine 1935–1985 |publisher=Rainbird Publishing |year=1987}}

{{Commons category|Dinorwig Power Station}}

• [http://www.fhc.co.uk First Hydro Company]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A973668 BBC H2G2]

{{Energy in Wales}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1984

Category:Tourism in Gwynedd

Category:Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in the United Kingdom

Category:Hydroelectric power stations in Wales

Category:Buildings and structures in Gwynedd

Category:Llanddeiniolen

Category:1984 establishments in Wales