More than just Dinorwig Power Station's public interface, Electric Mountain is a tourist hub incorporating a gallery, cafe, children's playground, souvenir shop and Llanberis' tourist office. It also has interactive exhibits on hydropower and it's the starting point for an interesting guided tour into the power station's guts, under the mountain.
The Dinorwig pumped-storage power station is the largest scheme of its kind in Europe. Located deep below Elidir mountain, its construction required one million tonnes of concrete, 200,000 tonnes of cement and 4500 tonnes of steel. The power 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.
The centre is by the lakeside on the A4086, near the south end of High St. Tours run daily from Easter to October and more sporadically in the low season; call ahead for times.
