Hydro Electric Plant To Be Built in Llanberis Pass

© Jack Geldard

Planning permission has been granted for a Hydro Electric scheme to be built in the heart of the Llanberis Pass, North Wales.

The scheme consists of a concrete weir connected via underground pipes to a power house, and is to be built in the Cwm Glas Bach climbing area, very close to the picturesque Climbers' Club hut of Cwm Glas Mawr.

The view from the belay of Superdirect on Dinas Mot  © Jack Geldard
The view from the belay of Superdirect on Dinas Mot
© Jack Geldard

The scheme is small for a Hydro Electric station, and the construction of the power house looks sympathetically designed, however the scheme includes a concrete weir being built across a beautiful mountain stream, underground pipes being dug through the hillside and boulders being moved and then 'replaced' to allow the digging of the pipes. The power house is to be on the site of a ruined stone building on the track that leads to the Climbers' Club hut.

 


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Local climber Mark Reeves was out in the Llanberis Pass when he spotted some marker posts:

"When I headed up into Cwm Glas this week and saw a line of wooden posts hammered into the pristine mountain hillside, I had to ask myself what the hell are these marking out?"

Marker posts in the Llanberis Pass  © Mark Reeves
Marker posts in the Llanberis Pass
© Mark Reeves

After the tweeting of a photo to the BMC and Snowdonia National Park went unanswered, Mark was still in the dark about what development was underway until a friend sent him a link to the planning application.

Mark commented:

...I don’t know what to do. The decision seems to have been made, unless someone who understands planning in the national park wants to come up with a way to fight against this development of a hydro power station in the middle of Llanberis Pass? It will be running on what is essentially a small mountain stream and its effect on climate change is going to be a drop in the ocean."

Whilst this could be seen as a good opportunity for micro scale electricity generation, it could also be seen as a blot on the unique mountainscape of the Llanberis Pass.

With the planning application having already been given the green light, there is little option for appeal against this development. What seems most unusual about this situation is that the climbing and hillwalking community have not been better informed prior to the planning application being accepted.


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19 Feb, 2014
What capacity? Would be good to know the figs. This cost to the landscape for what benefit? Edit: 100kw turgo machine. v little! http://planning.snowdonia-npa.gov.uk/swiftlg_snpa/MediaTemp/12956-30947.pdf
19 Feb, 2014
100Kw micro hydro. the weir is planned to be 7m across and 1.8m high. the pipe buried and the powerhouse to be a rebuilt shepherd's hut. i'm really not bothered by this if it's owned by someone from the local community, god knows we need to use renewables more... but if this is some seed-capitalised speculative money making scheme from out of town then I'll agree that it's the thin end of the wedge.
19 Feb, 2014
Sounds good to me, from what I've read on here.
19 Feb, 2014
Some pictures here from the developers website showing what the finished "weir" might loook like. http://www.greenearthhydro.co.uk/gallery.html I suspect that if this one goes ahead then others in the area(and beyond) are sure to follow and this could have a very dramatic impact on our mountains. The BMC really do need to get involved ASAP. Thanks for highlighting this.
19 Feb, 2014
This really is nothing to get "up in arms over". It's a tiny scheme, the visual impact will be minimal, even from close up. It has been done with the maximum respect for the local environment and ecosystems. It seems that this is very much a local project. Recently i am noticing an immediate negative reaction to any renewable energy scheme, regardless of size, scale, siting.
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