This museum explains the origin and evolution of the first major hydroelectric power plant in Catalonia and how the electricity produced in the Pyrenees supplied Catalan industry. One of its distinguishing features is the 836-metre-long stretch down which water travels before becoming electricity.
The space of the Museum of the Capdella Power Plant, open since 2001, is part of the hydroelectric complex of Capdella. Visitors can follow the journey from the first origins of the hydroelectric power plant to when it began operation in 1914, going through all the economic, social and infrastructure changes this entailed.
In addition to the permanent exhibition, the hydroelectric power plant –the first major one to begin operation in Catalonia in 1914- can be visited, alongside other installations such as the foundry and transformer station.
In the late nineteenth century the great reservoir of Vall Fosca, with over 50 million m3, allowed Sort journalist and politician Emili Riu to design the use of this resource to build the hydroelectric power plant of Capdella.
The human factor was decisive in going ahead with this monumental work and the necessary infrastructures: access roads, cable cars, narrow gauge railways, water networks, camps for workers, etc., which allowed the first major hydroelectric power plant in Catalonia to be put into operation in the record time of just two years.
Consult Museum webpage.
