Cwm Dyli is the location of a

hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

on the southern flank of the Snowdon range in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

. At the time it was built, it was the largest hydro-electric power station in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is Britain's oldest power station, and is believed to be one of the oldest Grid-connected hydro-electric stations in the world.

History

The station was built in 1905 by the Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway company, backed by

North Wales Power and Traction Co Ltd North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

to supply electricity to its own electric railway and connected slate quarries and mines. The railway was planned to run through the same valley as the power station and be fed with an electrical feeder, but the enterprise ran short of funds and the attempt was abandoned. The company was renamed the North Wales Power Company Limited. In August 1906, power from Cwm Dyli was used to power the Oakeley Quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog carried over the Crimea Pass by a long overhead transmission line at 10,000 volts. It also supplied Dinorwic and Pen-yr-Orsedd quarries. Cwm Dyli was claimed to be the largest electricity generating plant of its kind in Great Britain at the time. Electricity produced here was also used to power the

Long Wave In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...

Wireless Telegraph Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for t ...

transmitting station built by Marconi in 1912 near

Waunfawr Waunfawr (''gwaun'' + ''mawr'', en, large moorland/meadow) is a village and community, SE of Caernarfon, near the Snowdonia National Park, Gwynedd, in Wales. Description Waunfawr is in the Gwyrfai valley, on the A4085 road from Caernarfon t ...

. Supplying power directly to the National Grid, it is Britain's oldest power station, and is believed to be one of the oldest Grid-connected hydro-electric stations in the world. It was first commissioned in 1906 and has been in fairly continuous operation since then, although it was closed for upgrading in 1990. A single turbine now produces up to 9.8 megawatts (MW). Known locally as the "Chapel in the valley", on account of its exterior design, it employed 13 men. Today, however, it is controlled remotely from

Dolgarrog Dolgarrog is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales, situated between Llanrwst and Conwy, very close to the Conwy River. The village is well known for its industrial history since the 18th century and the Eigiau ...

in the

Conwy valley , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

. Water for the site primarily comes from Llyn Llydaw, some 320 metres above the power station, where rainfall is very high. The water is carried from the lake through a tunnel and two 30-inch (0.762 m) diameter, long pipelines. The pipeline featured in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film ''

The World Is Not Enough ''The World Is Not Enough'' is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Michael Apted, from an ...

''.

Technical details

The generating equipment at Cym Dyli up to 1989 comprised: * 2 × Ganz Pelton wheels * 2 × Boving Pelton wheels, together these aggregated a capacity of 900 horse power (6.619 MW) The four wheels drove: * 1 × 1 MW Bruce Peebles

alternator An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Gor ...

* 1 × 1.5 MW Bruce Peebles alternator * 1 × 3 MW Bruce Peebles alternator The total electricity generating capacity was 6.5 MW, at 10 kV. The following graph shows the annual electricity output in MWh from Cym Dyli between 1921 and 1986: ''CEGB Statistical Yearbook'' 1972 to 1986 Central Electricity Generating Board

References

External links

* {{Energy in Wales Hydroelectric power stations in Wales Buildings and structures in Gwynedd Beddgelert Energy infrastructure completed in 1905 1905 establishments in Wales

History

Technical details

See also

References

External links