Britain's Largest Battery A MASSIVE Lake in Wales | Fully Charged

[@MrHSIE]

Just incredible. A magnificent blend of technical, artistic, humour and fact. Love the images, setting the scene and the planning and long shots with the narration still continuing. Not just amazing engineering but simply stunning production. Magical even. I’m literally waking up each day here in Oz and hitting the ‘refresh button’ on KZbin to see if there is another episode. Keep up the great work and I love the stories you guys (and gals presumably) are producing. Well done. 👏🏼😁

[@torresalex]

I second that (though I'm not in Australia :D)

[@dlittlester]

I agree. This show has become one of, if not the best documentary series on KZbin.

[@drewbransby4600]

Perfect description, I feel every single point the same.

[@santiagoferrari1973]

test

[@tommcneilvt]

Steve Williams apaazazzZ%

[@afuel4sport]

Thanks Robert nice to see the old place again, my father was part of the team that built the heavy engineering that went into Dinorwig and we were invited to the official opening day. At the time as a lad it just blew my mind at the sheer size of everything. Still does today in fact.

[@PeterNajar]

In 2014 while touring Wales as tourists from the States we happened to drive by the plant. On a lark we decided to stop and take the offered tour. It was an education. I had never realized that plants had to be built to manage surge demand. That visit started a process to learning more about back up systems for other plants in the USA and backup systems for homes. All of that started us down a road were two years later we bought our first EV, then recently a second. Now we’re trying to figure out how to generate solar energy and then store it for later use and for emergency backup.

[@jeroeneeuwes]

Peter Najar It seems pretty easy really. 1) you have to have a backyard with a mountain 2) make sure there's a lake on top 3) excavate the mountain 4) build a huge waterpower station inside 5) Profit!

[@Bluswede]

Peter Najar First you need to own a fair parcel of land at the top of a hill. (helps with wind generation) Then you put up a water tower with enough volume/head pressure to cover a few days without wind or sun. Then you install enough solar and wind to cover pumping the required volume of water up the water tower PLUS the 25% system losses WHILE running your home at normal usage. You'll need to determine the 'average Solar hours' available daily at your location as a part of this calculation, also. That should cover it...all mechanical storage versus a battery's electrochemical storage. Now balance the cost versus a large 'flow battery'. (there IS a Fully Charged episode on these) It won't be cheap, and you need to be in the right 'situation', but it's doable! There ARE residential-sized wind and water turbines out there, or you can build your own. (search KZbin for how-to videos, and do a lot of math!) Also...make sure you account for charging your EVs, AND be aware that you can also use them as storage batteries with the right software!

[@PeterNajar]

Bluswede Or more, simply solar panels and batteries. That way there are no moving parts to wear.

[@qwertyTRiG]

The UK has far more surge demand than the USA. See "TV Pickup".

[@mgabrielle2343]

you could perhaps make large tall towers to store water during the times when your solar panels are not required to power your home to full capacity, so they can pump up the water in these towers, or alternative use lion batteries , anyone for storing energy in huge springs?

[@oisiaa]

OUTSTANDING video! More like this!! Old fashion TV never had shows like this. A "general audience" doesn't have the attention span for this, but your audience is very specific and we love it!

[@EleanorPeterson]

oisiaa - Hi! But... old-fashioned TV in Britain used to be stuffed with fascinating, factual, mildly educational programmes like this. The BBC was famous for it. The late night Open University was utterly amazing. But then the socially-inclusive, right-on, anti-education, show-us-your-pain-and-misery human interest tossers took over, and it degenerated into a sticky-sweet mass of brain-dead reality shows, cookery shows, reality shows, game shows, reality shows, and more bleedin' reality shows. Thankfully, chaps like Robert left the Beeb at just the right moment to help create brilliant KZbin stuff like this. Phew! Nice one, Kryters, old buddy, old pal!

[@JB-xu1pm]

Robert Another excellent show. I am going to increase my Patreon going to Fully Charged. The quality of the programs are showing the increased funding you have available. I have been watching your show since the beginning, years ago. Always look forward to each new episode. One of my granddaughters is going to study Renewables + Engineering in college. I sent her the Fully Charged channel to her as inspiration and to increase her awareness. Again, thanks!

[@dr-k1667]

What a fab thing to do for your granddaughters. Wishing them all the very best.

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

Ben Cruachan.

[@MrHSIE]

After watching this episode J B I am also going to become a patron supporter as I feel this level of production deserves additional funding.

[@nimblybimbly4002]

It would be the ultimate to have all the power used to push the water back up come from renewable sources. Pump it up while the sun shines and the wind blows. Cool facility!

[@ComicalFlask]

If they’re buying the cheapest available power overnight then it’s presumably wind-generated pretty much all the time. It’s probably even free sometimes.

[@octapc]

Nick Name but why do it when instead of powering an efficient system when a wind turbine etc can provide same power direct to homes etc.

[@SD-tj5dh]

I would say have a local wind turbine that powers the return pumps. I guess they also have to consider the beauty of the surrounding area. Wind turbines don't exactly do much good to a pretty landscape unless you are horny for wind turbines.

[@AleksandarStefanovic]

Nicholas Heidl because sometimes wind turbines produce more energy than what is needed to power homes, and so this energy is stored as potential energy of the water

[@octapc]

Aleksandar Stefanović then batteries are a must

[@picturemaker]

Cruachan Power Station (also known locally as The Hollow Mountain) in Argyll, Scotland is an impressive pumped storage hydro electric facility that was opened in 1965. 19 years before Dinorwig. Come and visit sometime. It's also a great mountain to climb.

[@ruifilipedl]

In Portugal we use the same system, but with dams. Basically we have the main dam and downstream a secondary dam. This systems use the surplus of energy produced by wind during the night to pump the water.

[@finnersmcspeed5646]

There is also one in Scotland, called Cruachan.

[@ColinRichardson]

The whole 3:4 ratio is quite interesting. Love the random stuff you learn on this show

[@letsgocamping88]

Colin Richardson bearing in mind that it’s 40 year old technology, unless it’s been refitted, I wonder if that ratio could be improved upon today?

[@RubenKelevra]

In Germany, the average efficiency of all installed water pump power storages is 70%. Newer systems have 75 to 80% and it's mainly depending on the needs for lateral movement.

[@PETATNISSEN]

According to this article www.tu.no/artikler/na-lonner-det-seg-a-pumpe-vannet-i-hoyden-om-sommeren-for-a-bruke-det-om-vinteren/225407 (sorry, it's Norwegian - use Google translate) Aurland power station has a 87% ratio

[@AlexdaCunha]

True, I had no idea that the efficiency was that good... I thought it would be well under 50%. For such a huge mechanical system is quite impressive.

[@adammilward2820]

Benjamin Harvey that was my thinking too. I wonder if like in the dual motor Tesla’s they could have two motors tuned differently to get get better efficiency. Use one purely tuned to better generate electricity and the other to efficiently transfer the water back.

[@Hailexx]

Not only is the story super interesting, your genuine enthusiasm and charisma makes this a million times better than most any "professional" documentaries. Bravo!

[@droknron]

This channel is just going from strength to strength. Such great content!

[@ahaveland]

Awesome... 11 minutes just flew by with total absorption. The world needs more of these.

[@HistoryNeedsYou]

The machine hall is so big, the architects had to account for the curvature of the earth! Engineering on an epic scale.

[@PenneyThoughts]

lol, tell that to a flat-earther and watch their head explode. Neat fact tho! Bobby should have mentioned it.

[@mikemhz]

MichaelKingsfordGray do you think there would be vector divergence between two pendulums at either end of the hall?

[@vikramligde]

Just incredible.... It's been long since a latest video has been posted here. Hats off to you Robert for your dedication to promote the thought which very few would understand... Thank You

[@yash1152]

@MichaelKingsfordGray Thanks for introduction to a new topic (for me)! Never heard of them before. 😇

[@obviouslytwo4u]

Gyrotheodolites only work in straight lines, sorry your school failed you.

[@jhg-lu5163]

I love this show. Please do not stop. I do not use , patreon, financial problems of my own. Still love the show. Very informative as well as entertaining.

[@adddude7524]

This is an insanely great episode! I am so happy you cover more than just electric cars. This one and the Orkney Islands episodes were my favorites so far. Thank you for producing content at a quality that TV couldn't even dream of!

[@rudyvandewalle1400]

Living in northern Italy, I wanted to say that Italy has plenty of these hydraulic systems in the Alps. It's an old technology of using cheaper electricity at night to pump up de water to the upper lake and use it donward during the day to produce energy.

[@DiHandley]

In Australia too.

[@gunnar6674]

I really enjoy looking at hydro-power facilites like these. My uncle used to work at one, and I'm both awestruck and slightly terrified of the massive scale and pressures involved.

[@Richster64]

It's a fabulous place to visit, well worth it if you are in north east Wales. Lots of information and tours.

[@QALibrary]

if you near Aberystwyth nearby they have a hydro dam and windfarm that you can go and visit as well

[@nadeemahmed324]

All I have to do now is to wait for my wife and 2 year old and 4 year old and 6 year old to develop an interest in engineering and renewable clean energy...

[@nautilus1872]

north west

[@bren106]

That one body of water in those lakes has been used to generate electricity over 12,500 times since 1984. A coal or oil power station would have needed a separate amount of fuel for every session of operation. But, but, but but renewable energy isn't practical or economic says Mr Lobbyist. I've done the public tour of Dinorwig, and recommend it to anyone, it is mind blowing.

[@Tokamak91]

Mr lobbyist category renewable energy production and conventional energy production (including hydro power). Profitability is a matter of size and grid stability. high initial costs will only be taken when the power outcome is big enough. They can only sell regulation energy, if the grid is highly dynamic.

[@DiscoFang]

bren106 I think you've misunderstood what this station does. It's doesn't 'generate' power it stores power generated elsewhere and then re-distributes it. This is not renewable energy in the common meaning of the phrase, it's only renewable in the same way a battery is. In fact if you understood what was explained, this is 75% efficient so therefore it CONSUMES power. For every one of those 12,500 times it has been generating electricity, in the ratio of 3:4 it has also effectively consumed 16,666 'times'.

[@DrWhom]

Don't confuse storage with generation. That's exactly the misunderstanding the fossil lobby keeps harping on for the benefit of the deplorable electorate. Our side should be smarter than that...

[@williamresham703]

Great video tour. Thanks.

[@admiralpicard2010]

I’ve been there,it was really good & interesting. Definitely worth a few hours visit.

[@docpaul]

I've visited The Electric mountain twice - I love these large scale engineering projects.

[@KarlXByrne]

I'm thinking that bus which drove you underground was not electric. I hope you had a word. Great show.

[@tycobur199]

duuude I hope they have proper ventilation

[@pemjoe]

The men who align these units are the ones who truly keep the lights on!

[@NigelR8]

As gentlemen said in previous post ! Your programme is inspirational and quality is top ! I will start patreon immediately.

[@MattJBaugh]

I'm a Substation Protection Engineer, and studied Electrical Engineering. I have to thank this place for wowing and inspiring me to follow my career path, I now work on offshore wind farms!

[@TheAlexandermaclean]

Cruachan Power Station works on the same principle which, last time I checked was in Scotland. Just Saying! I always look forward to the energy generation and storage episodes. Particular favorites have been the videos on Star heat pumps and Sunamp heat batteries. Both companies blazing an non combustive trail from Scotland. Just saying! Well done on the great content.

[@nigelpentland3491]

Alexander Maclean my thoughts too. Think from memory Cruachan dates from the sixties but isn’t quite the same scale, still pretty impressive though

[@doubledutch13]

Absolutely. Visited Cruachan last year and it’s identical. Generates on peak and pumps overnight. Uses more than it generates. So no different.

[@martinwatt6821]

Glendoe on Loch Ness as well

[@JohnDunkley]

Is that the one at the end of Loch Lomond?

[@TheAlexandermaclean]

No, Loch Awe. I think I know the one you mean by the road but i'm not sure that's the same thing.

[@chriskelvin248]

I was there on vacation in '17- FASCINATED by the old slate mine and learning about the massive "water battery" that is the reservoirs. Striking landscape as well. Fell in love with Caenarfon below. I seem to remember a rather tasty beer on tap at the Black Buoy called Electric Mountain.

[@GeoStreber]

looks like the bowels of Aperture Science

[@TonGi018]

My father works at a big pumped storage facility in central Europe and I agree, it really does look like Aperture Science, especially the old parts shown in Portal 2. I bet the Portal developers were inspired by big hydro powerplants for the map design.

[@IamBHM]

I was thinking Black Mesa with the long roads carved through the mountain leading to the giant science station. But yeah, some of those textures and railings did have a 1970's era underground Aperture Science feel to them.

[@TonGi018]

Bad Hair Man The wood in the control room is just so 70s.

[@BOSTLEMANN]

first thing i thought at 2.08 was OMG half-life! :)

[@nicolojavier]

Robert does say Valve a lot so there might be something there.

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

Wonderful use of the natural landscape. We can imagine that the modern day batteries would be cheaper to use, if one would want to build such a facility from scratch.

[@701983]

Construction costs could be similar by now. But consider lifetime/charging cycles! I suppose, pumped storage is still cheaper in the long term.

[@marvintpandroid2213]

Hi Robert, Love this kind of big power tech.

[@samguapo4573]

Great pump hydro project. I think what's missing in your video is breaking down the energy sources used to pump it back up (recharge) to determine if renewables were used.

[@esdrasUrbina]

Ohhh i dint know this was a real show this is so cool.sooooo cool

[@trevorhutchings4232]

year cool

[@Jimbaloidatron]

One thing you should notice if you are lucky enough to visit, is how well hidden such a big operation is. Not just because it's inside the mountain, but because there aren't rows of giant pylons leading away from the site - all the power generated leaves the site underground in huge, 6 mile long buried cables since it's sited within a national park, in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

[@hornetluca]

Where can I find the sound of the intro of _Fully Charged_ ? I would like to set it as notification for my phone. Thanks 😚

[@doctormo]

youtube-dl and audacity are the tools to use

[@richardmolby9189]

Thanks for sharing this with us. Simply amazing to see this from the inside.

[@peterfaber9316]

Cool, more videos like this one please. If they have so much wind up there, why not install some wind mills to pump the water back up?

[@chmd22]

They do, sort of. Being connected to the grid, a significant portion of the electricity they use to pump water back up is in fact coming from wind farms. If local wind resources are good, they certainly can build the farms there, but they don't have to dedicate their output to this particular facility.

[@sharkheadism]

Because the pumps consume enormous amounts of energy that comes from large plants that can't be throttled quickly, like coal, oil, and nuclear plants.

[@gwmattos]

YOUR real eyes and ears for educating the public is as example of professional news that should be shared with PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, ETC. BEAUTIFUL JOB OF RELEVANT INFORMATION.THANK YOU FOR BRINGING IT TO US.

[@M0LHA]

Couldn't help but think of austin powers throughout this video :P

[@ion337]

Superb video, great to see fascinating engineering shown off with excellent production and editing. Well done Robert & team!

[@Mukeshmiktecrep]

Who's agree that instead of talking to each other, they should have recorded a guided tour on what the thing is and who it works ?

[@carlos69rules]

This is why I pay for your Patreon. Keep up the good work Robert.

[@ZekeKnight]

When that alarm first went off, all I could hear in my head was, 'change to red alert... Are you sure sir? It does mean changing the bulb!'

[@owenbutters7994]

Lol

[@WillFealey]

You failed to mention this place is open to the public and is well worth a visit. Superb episode as always! Thanks

[@bujin1977]

If anyone's interested in seeing the lake at the top of the mountain that's referred to in this video (Marchlyn Mawr), here's a panoramic pic I took on a stroll in some actually quite sunny weather for a change last summer. It's the one on the right. flic.kr/p/Xr7rHB

[@clydeceniza2521]

bujin1977 Thanks mate!

[@vateoivanov]

"12 miles away as the crow flies." Today I learned a beautiful new expression. Thanks Fully Charged!

[@krashd]

'As the crow flies' means in a straight line, A to B. Sometimes people use it alongside road distance to show how much a road deviates between two places.

[@nicosmind3]

60x Earth's atmosphere or 2/3rds Venus's

[@nicemandan]

Wow, I hiked past this on a school trip in the late 80s, and was told it was a reservoir and dam built in an old quarry. Thanks for showing what was really in there!

[@zapfanzapfan]

I'm glad you didn't run across any orcs or cave trolls, or drop a bucket down a well and woke up the Balrog :-)

[@indianasquatchunters]

zapfanzapfan Love Robert’s very Lord of the Ringsy 😂. Tolkien sure did love his folklore. I wasn’t all Nordic either British Isles folklore played a big part, including beautiful Wales :).

[@andrasbiro3007]

Actually a Balrog would be an excellent power source.

[@zapfanzapfan]

András Bíró: Yeah, it seemed to give off quite a bit of heat :-)

[@krashd]

@@magnusekeberg2168 The best Pot Noodle seams can be up to a kilometre underground.

[@kenbone4535]

Great Robert, wish we had more of them.

[@tracyofbg]

What kind of person can thumb this down and why?

[@beyondfossil]

Fossil fuel executives.

[@zapfanzapfan]

The Cock-brothers? :-)

[@aljazhusak1360]

Well it does use more energy than it producess to cover price spikes of the power market... personally I think its a great video but to someone living off grid in a straw hut is as ofensive as anything, I can kinda get that.

[@EleanorPeterson]

Hydrophobes.

[@krashd]

Young children who get it in their recommended while looking for Minecraft videos.

[@outbacktesla]

Another very informative episode from the FCS team. Interesting to hear the economics of this pumped hydro at 3:4 and how that stacks up.

[@terryendicott2939]

If they used wind, solar, waves or some other sort of intermittent non-grid power dedicated to pump the lower lake to the upper lake could this be less dependent on the grid?

[@MrKristyon]

The more renewables that come online, even more this comes into play. It's connected to the national grid, just like large scale wind and solar. It's likely that excess wind is pumping water at night some of the time.

[@terryendicott2939]

MrKristyon - Thanks - I keep forgetting that the grid is getting more and more populated with wind etc.

[@Kingsoupturbo]

Thats got to be the only way its feasable to keep this place online, its unusual as there are so many hydro electric plants in north america that don't have to repump water.

[@brucemcfarling7810]

It does a lot of good for integrating wind & solar on the grid. Demand response will takes longer to respond & battery storage costs more per KWh, so a portfolio of demand response, pumped hydro and battery offers more flexibility than any one on their own.

[@Slash1066]

Its an amazing place to visit, did the tour years ago. Those valves and weights are truly a sight to behold.

[@siviter]

As there aren't many mountains to bore into. Could we not use old coal mines instead? Lake at the top, pumping water up and back down old shafts? Has to be cheaper than machining rock from scratch or grid level battery storage? Would also put some much needed life back into Northern towns.

[@mrc4147]

That is indeed being looked into. Of course you need a lake at the top which requires a bit of space so very few locations where this would be feasible. Disused quarries are another potential consideration.

[@danielx9011]

Gravitricity are proposing concrete weights in mine shafts as energy storage. Already covered by Mr Llewellyn in a news feature: kzbin.info/www/bejne/moW9Z3t4hsykbqc

[@siviter]

Daniel x thanks for the reply. Yeah I've seen this, I feel it is limited by volume compared to a mine. A fair few coal mines have large brown field areas around them that could be regenerated into a park if you flooded part of it for pumped storage, you wouldn't have to completely drain it.

[@jur4x]

You don't even need huge height differences actually. Just 2 reservoirs with some level separation. Some of pumped storage stations have less then a hundred meters between reservoir levels. Can be located next next to each other.

[@nautilus1872]

There were other reasons to dig into a granite mountain during the cold war the power station was a side line.

[@the_real_foamidable]

Cool episode! Thanks for sharing.

[@jimwilliams1536]

Get some of those big wind turbines up there quick!

[@maximilianholland]

Awesome! Essentially able to function as a 10GWh battery with upto 1.8GW output with 10 second response time. 75% efficiency is pretty decent too. Thanks Robert for a great video about this amazing facility.

[@UAPJedi]

British engineering at its best.

[@hier0dingens0weiste]

that is also exactly why it is leaking at 1:16 :*D

[@tomekstanek]

But imagine how big batter storage can be build today for cost of that?

[@Taolishao]

Bwahaha.

[@FreekHoekstra]

This is actually very cost efficient, the amount of infrastructure for the amount of energy stored is very low. the issue is that it requires specific geography namely a mountain with a lake on top. so it only works in certain areas.

[@Rupietta]

With help from a Swiss construction company...

[@greggschuder7478]

Fabulous video, Robert! Very interesting. Thanks.

[@joeyandres]

Really smart. The whole thing is basically just a big battery.

[@fionafiona1146]

Joey Andres a battery that barely loses any charge at a massive scale 😍

[@FreekHoekstra]

it actually gains charge as it rains ;)

[@jur4x]

It's UK. So it gains charge quite a lot :)

[@Astilath]

Love that view over to the rainbow wall and the inclines.

[@arturasp9738]

We have something like that in Lithuania, check out the video in english kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqOWiqR-lNWdqZI I think its not necessary to do something as crazy as building it inside the mountain, just find a flat area near the water and build a reservoir .

[@Simon-nx1sc]

I watched the video and indeed, I can't see why this has to be inside a mountain. That said, the tunnel probably already existed for the most part because of mining activities.

[@FreekHoekstra]

the mountain is there to create the vertical height difference, the power comes from the volume of water * the height difference. so the bigger the second the less volume you need.

[@manpetepetrop8034]

Greater Height = More Potential Energy = More Power. As Robert Pointed in the video its 600m difference between the top lake and the Generator versus 100m in the video in Lithuania, Also Count less piping length = Fewer Losses due to friction and a more inclined pipe = Greater water speed = More Kinetic Energy = More MW for Generation...

[@Charlie-UK]

FYI... Dinorwig, was designed that way, to be protected from , a nuclear attack. So it could be used to reboot, the UK electricity grid, if needed...

[@mrc4147]

The other pumped storage site the guy mentioned at Ffestiniog is all external. A dam with pipes from an upper lake to a lower lake. Flow is reversed at night.

[@philiprowney]

Great bit Rob, show us the internals of more of the existing electrical infrastructure. I think it adds more relevance to energy storage.

[@nicksgarage8295]

I wanted to see the turbine halls not a conversation about yada yada yada....

[@jamesedwards6589]

I want to see the massive vortex when the water is getting sucked back up from the bottom of the pond lol

[@mitchell.9632]

Robert and the team you cover interesting places and technology such as this video.

[@reik2006]

3:55 1 cubic meter of water dropping one meter yields a change in gravitational potential energy of about 0.003 kWh.

[@begood6011]

1 cubic metre of water has a mass of 1000kg, potential energy is given by m x g x h = 1000 x 9.81 x 1 = 9810 joules. If this energy is discharged in a second then that's equivalent to 9.81kw, I'm not sure where the guy gets 1kw from? It would need to discharge in about 10s to generate 1kw, but water is going to fall 1m a lot quicker than 10s...

[@ahaveland]

9.81kW for one second is 9.81/3600 = 0.0027 kWh to lift a ton of water 1m. Therefore mgh for a ton of water falling 600m would be 5886000J, or 1.6kWh, which is a lot closer to the mark. That's about the amount of energy in my ebike battery - enough to raise me and the bike 6000m or over 60 miles along the flat.

[@Bluswede]

One question: How are you people getting kilowatt hours from a metric tonne of water flowing from a one meter height, through an unknown restriction, in an unspecified amount of time? Kilowatt hours is a time-dependent measurement and kilowatts is not. Also...the equation that Robert quoted, roughly, at 3:55 IS, indeed, 1kg dropping 1 meter equalling 1 kilowatt...but that has seconds as a component that need to be cancelled out in the next step (where you stir in time or flow rate) by also adding in the 3,600 sec/hour conversion if you want to get to kilowatt hours as your final answer. This is why some attempts are off by a factor of 1,000... Be Good almost had it but got distracted by the mental picture of a glob of water free-falling through space, instead of flowing through a pipe and turbine at a more measured pace, while doing the work of generating electricity. Andy Lee Robinson took something from his daily life and did a comparison that made hands-on sense to him...he gets the prize! I intuitively knew that Robert's 1, 1, 1 formula was right, but the math wasn't working for me...(it's been a while!)...I finally worked it backward using the flow rate of a small petrol-powered water pump to confirm my belief, then searched the interwebs a bit to find a similar, step-by-step, problem and suss where my math had gone wrong.

[@ahaveland]

Bluswede, thanks for your comment... I'd just like to fix your confusion - kilowatt hours is *not* time-dependent! It is a unit of energy, regardless of time. Think of it like a bucket of petrol. You can spend 1kWh in 1 second (3.6MW) or one year (114mW) - it is the same quantity or work, but if you spend it quickly then that represents more power. Power is an instantaneous quantity, a rate of flow. like litres per second or J/s. Energy is J/s x time = J. Potential energy, mgh, says nothing about time - that is the energy to raise a mass by height against gravity, or released. If you want to do this quickly, then you need more energy quickly, ie. more joules per second = power. Hope that helps.

[@reik2006]

Conservation of energy principles do not require details of the processes of how one form of energy is converted into another. Lifting one cubic meter of water by one meter with respect to some arbitrarily chosen datum point near the earths surface requires a force acting opposite to the force of gravity over a distance of one meter. This also can be understood as the amount of energy to be transferred from the surroundings into the cubic meter of water where it is being stored as gravitational potential energy. Potential energy quantifies the work that gravity potentially could perform on the amount of water when it is returned back from its final position to the initial datum. This analysis yields an upper bound for the maximum amount of energy that the water possibly could transfer back to its surroundings. A real life process where water falls a couple hundreds of meters and gravitational potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, then passes through a turbine producing shaft work which is transformed into some electric potential difference by some generator will have irreversibilities and thus every conversion of energy will reduce the amount of useful work which can be performed with that initial amount of potential energy we started of with. Hence no details are required of how the cycle is performed by the power plant in order to state upper limits of what it can possibly do (or for that matter one cubic meter of water falling one meter). Here's how the computation was done: mass of one cubic meter: 1 m^3 = 1000 l = 1000 kg change in potential energy with respect to some datum to one significant digit: ΔPE = 1000 kg * 10 m/s^2 * 1m = 1E1 kJ unit conversion to kWh: 1 kJ = 1 kWs 3600 kWs = 1 kWh answer to one significant digit: ΔPE = 1E1 kJ * [1 kWs/kJ] * [1 kWh/3600 kWs] = 3E-3 kWh = 0.003 kWh. One mental experiment to adjust your intuitions: 1 cubic meter equals 100 buckets containing 10 l. To me it is fairly obvious that with some effort I could lift the filled buckets 100 times by one meter and put it into a 1 cubic meter box. I also know just how much effort is required to maintain some continuous power output above 100 watts [see kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWWyZqmlhKikd7M] much less an output of 1 kW for one hour resulting in 1 kWh. There is no way I possibly converted that much energy with my buckets.

[@смиренный-х2б]

Every video I see on this power station not once has the sun been shining. Wales must be the Seattle of the UK.

[@dledden4433]

Shame it's no longer British owned :-(

[@timmayer8723]

I have been to the generator room of Hoover dam here in the US several times. It is amazing how quiet the massive generators are. This generating station is likewise very quiet. Fascinating.

[@mrrolandlawrence]

constructed back in the day when we looked forward to creating infrastructure for our needs. we need some more nuclear power now! we are lacking base load power. coal is dirty and we get gas from russia though the way politics are today, not for much longer.

[@NigelR8]

That is quite amazing !!! Great music for feature :)

[@martinmacdonald]

Who are the 10 people that disliked this video, and for what possible reason??

[@gwarlow]

martin macdonald We may never know what goes on within their troubled minds... Best not to bother wondering, I think. I will focus on the majority who did like this video. (But it bothers me too :-))

[@dougmc666]

They sell batteries

[@michaelbirkett3192]

Absolutely amazing video keep it up Robert. I do have a question however what about the bugs and sludge that must build up in the pipes and pumps etc. ?

[@SpringDivers]

Amazing conversation, gentlemen. Thanks for the video.

[@jkchravel]

been there twice. Awesome. great video Robert

[@alwAudio]

Another great video, the scale and the location make it particularly impressive!

[@petercrutchley6085]

Excellent engineering and video. Thank you for posting. From New Zealand..

[@itsfahys]

The public Tour is fantastic where you board a Bus in llanberris Electric Mountain visitors center in the town, and are then taken under the mountain. You have to remove all Metal, Mobile Phones and place then in Bags. I was lucky enough to be there when they turned on one of the Turbines. The Initial Noise shook the Floor and the noise from that spinning Turbine is incredible, creating a Giant Electro Magnet , hence reason you cant wear any metal.

[@3DLL.]

i went there when i was 9 years old i'm 27 now and i can still remember it clearly. love to go back again

[@MattTester]

What a beautiful place, I've only driven past on the main road but it's great to see what goes on inside.

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

Excellent stuff Robert. Thanks for doing what you do.

[@BigPowerAL]

As an old power plant operator I found this really interesting. I idea that they can use the same system to generate power and pump water back to the lake is awesome!

[@johnmcquay82]

I remember visiting Dinorwig as a child. I intend to take my children there one day. I presume the Visitor Centre is still open? You used to be able to do tours of Hinkley Point and Didcot; completely different from Dinorwig and each other, but still really interesting. :)

[@istvanmeszaros4112]

Amazing piece of engineering. Thank you for the very informative episode!

[@lewisjones6144]

Great video. Visited last year!

[@stevetarte]

Fantastic place to visit. Went with the school in 1990. Will never forget my visit to the 'dragon in the mountain' as it was known then, under the National Grid company.

[@unpluggedEV]

WOW, thanks for another amazing video. Great work, team!

[@thefoodhobbyists7352]

Brilliant video i love the big engineering videos the more the better!

[@MichaelFoley64]

I only wish you could have gotten footage of the switch over from generating to pumping, seeing such a beast switch directions would be epic.

[@TheMHMAC]

The CEGB had a long term strategic view that has unfortunately been lost since privatisation. Fantastic.

[@bichoph1]

Very nice video thank's

[@peterseddon8363]

I visited in 1981 while still under construction, I worked for the C.E.G.B. and was able to get a good look at the construction and the vast volume for the system.

[@vivekprabhu2651]

Wonderful. Awaiting clips of Gravitricity, grid scale battery storage.

[@rajivpokharel88]

Amazing video....the coolest thing is that it is located deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppp inside the mountain.....now that's mind-blowing!!

[@jdavison8551]

Excellent programme as usual. How about one about the proposals for a tidal lagoon at Swansea bay?

[@Nardiumms]

Literally my favorite show, Fully Charged :D

[@FrntRow]

We love you Robert (and ALL the Fully Charged team!) your passion and character are an inspiration, sharing all this awesome with us in a easily digestible technology sandwich. Please never stop never stopping! The fact you used to be a droid makes it even greater

[@rstjx3j183]

I had the privilege somewhere to provide workplace substance misuse training, policy implementation, consultation, testing at this plant called First Hydro in North Wales UK back in 2010-2012 I also recall something not experienced before, being told to park my car a certain way for emergency exiting the site. Thanks for sharing.

[@query1527]

That was fantastic Bobby!