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Cavern protection

Kentec protects caverns deep in Electric Mountain.

Dinorwig hydro electric power station, hidden deep inside Elidir mountain, close to Snowdonia National Park, Wales, has chosen Kentec Syncro analogue addressable control panels for the upgrading of its fire detection system.

Known to thousands of visitors as Electric Mountain, Dinorwig boasts one of the fastest response times of any power facility in the world; generating 1728 MW from standstill in just 90 seconds, using the natural force of seven million cubic metres of water released from Marchlyn Mawr reservoir 636 metres above sea level.

Such a unique subterranean environment – virtually all the generation plant is located 750 metres inside the mountain – demands the highest level of fire detection, which is why Dinorwig’s owners, International Power First Hydro, turned to Kentec when upgrading the facility’s existing conventional system.

The solution is a networked system based around 12 Kentec Syncro analogue addressable control panels. Available with two or four detection loops, each capable of hosting up to 126 Apollo devices, Syncro panels use modern microprocessor technology to ensure a system of the highest integrity. Over 1500 Apollo fire detectors and auxiliary devices are integrated throughout the system.

The system also includes three strategically sited graphic panels based on Kentec’s GUIDE system for visual administrative co-ordination of all alarms. Thanks to Kentec’s sophisticated graphics controls and user-friendly interfaces, alarms can be pinpointed effectively for rapid response and decision-making.

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