Museu da Electricidade - Sala dos condensadores
Portugal, Lisboa, Belem, Avenida de Brasilia, Electricity museum, Condensors hall, school children, teachers (slightly cut from all sides).
The Meseu da Electricidade is one of the most striking technology museums we ever visited. It´s the giant Tejo power station, built in 1908 by the CRGE (Companhias Ruinidas de Gas e Electricidade) as the 'Estacão Eléctrica Central Tejo' and also kown as ‘Central da Junqueira’ power station. The facility was expanded and modernized in different steps. The last step was taken in 1951. It´s kinda ironic that due to the new national power grid policy and the prime role hydro-electric power generation in it, the Tejo station then already had the status of reserve station, mainly kept on stand-by.
The power station was coal fired and employed towering Babcock & Wilcox high pressure boilers. It could provide the whole of Lisbon with electricity and was decommissioned and mothballed in 1972. It´s max output was 65 MW. In comparison a modern metropolitan coal/biomass fired power station outputs up to 1500 MW.
There's by the way a lively debate about these kind of modern coal fired plants because the relatively high amount of NOx, SOx and CO2 in their combustion fumes. There's a drive to phase them out and rely on gas fuelled ones or, preferably, ones that use wind and other sustainable energy sources instead. So in a way Portugal, like for instance Norway (although Norway skipped the coal phase), was ahead of the game..
Anyway, after a while it was decided that the old mothballed Tejo power station should be turned into a museum. And the result was spectacular. The vintage technology is very well preserved and made readable via didactic cut-opens and access areas. And some dioramic scenes to enhance storytelling /realism and a permanent exposition about the world of energy and the generation of it were added The museum opened in 1990 and was renovated and modernized from 2001-2006. It´s now the most popular Portuguese museum..
This post depicts the bottom level of the condenser hall and the stairs to the area where the actual electric current generation takes place: the hall of the turbo alternators.
On the stairs is a group of schoolchildren that we encountered at various places in the museum. Their disciplined behaviour and being spellbound by the presentations of the educational staff of the museum was remarkable.
Museu da Electricidade - Sala dos condensadores
Portugal, Lisboa, Belem, Avenida de Brasilia, Electricity museum, Condensors hall, school children, teachers (slightly cut from all sides).
The Meseu da Electricidade is one of the most striking technology museums we ever visited. It´s the giant Tejo power station, built in 1908 by the CRGE (Companhias Ruinidas de Gas e Electricidade) as the 'Estacão Eléctrica Central Tejo' and also kown as ‘Central da Junqueira’ power station. The facility was expanded and modernized in different steps. The last step was taken in 1951. It´s kinda ironic that due to the new national power grid policy and the prime role hydro-electric power generation in it, the Tejo station then already had the status of reserve station, mainly kept on stand-by.
The power station was coal fired and employed towering Babcock & Wilcox high pressure boilers. It could provide the whole of Lisbon with electricity and was decommissioned and mothballed in 1972. It´s max output was 65 MW. In comparison a modern metropolitan coal/biomass fired power station outputs up to 1500 MW.
There's by the way a lively debate about these kind of modern coal fired plants because the relatively high amount of NOx, SOx and CO2 in their combustion fumes. There's a drive to phase them out and rely on gas fuelled ones or, preferably, ones that use wind and other sustainable energy sources instead. So in a way Portugal, like for instance Norway (although Norway skipped the coal phase), was ahead of the game..
Anyway, after a while it was decided that the old mothballed Tejo power station should be turned into a museum. And the result was spectacular. The vintage technology is very well preserved and made readable via didactic cut-opens and access areas. And some dioramic scenes to enhance storytelling /realism and a permanent exposition about the world of energy and the generation of it were added The museum opened in 1990 and was renovated and modernized from 2001-2006. It´s now the most popular Portuguese museum..
This post depicts the bottom level of the condenser hall and the stairs to the area where the actual electric current generation takes place: the hall of the turbo alternators.
On the stairs is a group of schoolchildren that we encountered at various places in the museum. Their disciplined behaviour and being spellbound by the presentations of the educational staff of the museum was remarkable.