MSc students visit Electric Mountain
Life in EEE 20 March 2018
Timothy Kihampa is currently pursuing a one year course of MSc in Electrical Power Systems Engineering. He has nine years’ experience of working with energy utility company and has returned to postgraduate study for further his personal development. Timothy recently attended a study trip to Electric Mountain in Snowdonia and talks about his experience here.
This career with open prospects has given me constant incentive to improve myself and to gain more knowledge. Today I perceive that life for me has been a process of conscious evolution. I believe that postgraduate study will provide a milestone in my career along with invaluable experiences that will allow me to become a successful, innovative professional and assist in accomplishing my goals while contributing to the development of energy sector in my country.
The Mountain Trip
After two weeks of exams and a quick start of second semester, the school organised a study trip to visit Electric Mountain in Snowdonia (Wales) to release the exam stress. We managed to visit the Dinorwig Power Station, visitors centre at Llanberis, the museum and beautiful scenery of the Llanberis Lake.
Our tour started at First Hydro Company’s Visitor centre in Llanberis set against a magnificent backdrop of the towering mountains and the magnificent scenery of Snowdonia’s Electric Mountain. A short video is shown at the centre to give a brief history of the power station. After the film we followed a 16km tour of underground tunnels deep below Elidir Mountain, this is one of Europe’s largest man made caverns and home to a pumped storage generator which converts the power of water into electricity.
Dinorwig Power Station was fully commissioned in 1984 and regarded as one of the world’s most imaginative engineering and environmental projects. The station consists of two reservoirs above and below (tail race), 6x275MW reversible Francis turbines, 6x340MVA 18/420kV Transformers and 6 x 330MVA generators for producing electricity.
During the day, water is released from the upper reservoir, energy is created by the down flow which is directed through high-pressure shafts, linked to turbines. In turn, the turbines power the generators to create electricity. During night when national electricity demand is at lowest, water is pumped back to the upper reservoir by linking a pump shaft to the turbine shaft using a motor to drive the pump. The pump motors are usually powered by electricity from the National Grid and the cycle continues. Today, Dinorwig’ s operational characteristics and dynamic response capability are still acknowledged the world over. Dinorwig is the largest scheme of its kind in Europe.
Surrounding the mountain is a magnificent Snowdonia National Park, home of various wildlife animals providing a beautiful view as you approach/leave the mountain. The station was carefully designed to ensure survival of the animals living in the national park.
As professional electrical engineer, the electric mountain tour was of utmost importance for not only getaway trip but also providing a different learning perspective in the area of power systems. As part of an education venture in Manchester, it has provided me with profound knowledge on general design, construction and operation of pumped storage hydropower plant.
It was indeed an enjoyable, relaxing and educational tour that I enjoyed very much. The general idea of turning a large slate quarry mining into a power station is such a fascinating idea, the beautiful scenery of the mountain and Llanberis Lake provide a wonderful view of the town as well as the museum which keeps the historical background of the mountain were among of things I enjoyed the most.
Timothy
Electric MountainElectric PowerElectrical Power EngineeringMScpostgraduateSnowdoniaTimothy
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