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Cwm Rheidol Power Station
Cwmrheidol, Nr Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3NF, WalesAbout
The Rheidol Hydro scheme is one of the premier visitor attractions in Mid-Wales and we are happy to welcome visitors who take an interest in our activities. The visitors centre is open daily from 1st May - 30th Sept. Entry into the visitors centre and tours of the station are all free of charge. The Visitors Centre has interactive educational models for the younger generation who want to learn about renewable energy as well as a café for those who want a quiet cup of relaxing tea. The environment is central to our work at Rheidol hydro-electric power station. We work closely with the Environment Agency regarding our operation and the site includes SSSI areas and vast heather beds. Here at Cwm Rheidol we encourage biodiversity at all opportunities including tree felling and landscaping where logs are left in place for wildlife and fencing off wood ant colonies in the forestry behind the station. Rheidol is close to the local Red Kite feeding centre, so kites and buzzards are common in our area. Our Rheidol windfarm is adjacent to the feeding area and demonstrates the successful harmonisation of wind turbines and birds. We have bat colonies in our store and visitors centre buildings which have been refurbished with due consideration of the preservation of the bats. We also have many wild birds around the power station locations and have set up boxes for barn owls and have many other small birds that nest on site,including swallows and wagtails. At one of our abstraction points at Llywernog, where there is a dammed pool and river, there is a population of water voles and we are working with the Environment Agency to ensure that our operation has a positive effect on the colony. The River Rheidol is an integral part of the Rheidol hydro-electric scheme and also a breeding area for salmon and trout. The fish originally had to pass Trotter’s Falls to reach their spawning grounds but when the Falls were replaced by a new dam, weir and bridge at Felin Newydd we included/constructed a special 'fish lift' to allow the fish to reach their old spawning grounds. Upstream of the power station a 'fish ladder' was cut into the rock to bypass the Rheidol Falls and thus opened up new spawning grounds to the fish. The fish ladder rises 6 metres and has 14 pools. Brown and rainbow trout are reared at Cwm Rheidol in specially constructed tanks alongside the power station. These fish are put into Dinas Reservoir. This provides anglers with a put-and-take fishing facility. Some of the brown trout are also stocked into Cwm Rheidol and Nant-y-Moch Reservoirs, to help support the indigenous population.
