Torre de Cabdella Power Station | Cultural Heritage. Goverment of Catalonia.
Torre de Cabdella Power Station The electricity born in the Pyrenees
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The Cabdella Power Station, located in the municipality of La Torre de Cabdella, was the first hydroelectric power station in Catalonia. Its gestation was at the end of the 19th century when Emili Riu, journalist and politician from Sort, found a way to take advantage of the large water reserve of the Vall Fosca, which exceeded 50 million m3.

In 1914 the company, Energia Elèctrica de Catalunya (Electricity Energy of Catalonia) put the hydroelectric power station in operation. It was an ambitious plan that took advantage of the waters of the Lake Gento system through a 5 kilometre long canal with an elevation of 836 metres. In addition, they had to install new infrastructure: a funicular railway, access roads, narrow-gauge railways, homes for employees, etc. Even so, the project was finished in just two years.

After a time, the power station was transferred to La Canadenca company (now Fecsa-Endesa). Currently, in one part of the installation, we can find the Cabdella Hydroelectric Museum, belonging to the network of museums of the Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya, which appreciates what the power station meant both for industry and also for the region.

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What can I do?

- The Museum offers guided tours of the different areas of the hydroelectric power station that will allow you to understand the electrification process in Catalonia.
- Schools will find workshops and guided tours to discover, through games and stories, both the power station and the territory that surrounds it.

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Contact

Museu Hidroelèctric de Capdella
Plaça de l’Ajuntament, 1
25515 La Torre de Capdella (Lleida)
Tel. (+34) 973663001

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Heritage stories

Capdella Hydroelectric Museum

Technique, history and territory, on this essential tour.