We went to the power station to have a look around and find out what happens there. We see the depot at the edge of the Peedie Sea every day but most of us had never been inside.
It was amazing to think that not long ago the station had employed about 30 people and the huge 7000 horsepower engines had supplied power to Orkney. Now it is used if there is a need for an emergency back up, but the engines have to be run every month, to make sure they are working well.
These days we use much more electricity and our power now comes from the national grid which Orkney is conected to by a cable running across the Pentland Firth on the sea bed. You can see a picture of undersea power cable at the end of the slide show.
We found out why the depot is next to The Peedie Sea and saw where the fuel is pumped into the tanks from the harbour. Now we know why the location of the power station is so important.
While we there there we saw men training to be able to fix faults on the line. They were all wearing special safety equipment. We found out how insulators and conductors are used in pylons and power lines and poles - and why birds can sit on the lines and not get hurt!
Jack's dad made sure we understood how dangerous electricity could be and how to keep safe and what to do (and not do!) in an emergency.
Many thanks to Jack's dad for organising our trip for us.
The trip to the power station was really good and we found out lots of interesting facts about electricity. I liked seeing the piece of underwater cable which carries power across the Pentland Firth and the different fuses from the plug fuses (in everyones plugs) to the huge ones used at substations. Jacks dads talk was very informative and you all did well to spot the potential dangers in the model. Well done! Caroline(Laura's mum)
ReplyDeleteI remember taking a class there too. It was quite a noisy place and workers had to wear ear defenders. It's interesting finding out what goes on in places we don't get to see normally.
ReplyDeleteI liked going to the power station beacuse it was very interesting and the group i was in spoted 13 out of 14 things that might be interesting Keira
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had an interesting trip out! It's great to find out what is going on right on your doorstep.
ReplyDeletePauline (Fraser's mum)
It looks like everybody really enjoyed themselves, Keira said she found it very interesting, glad to see you all had your lovely yellow hats on. Shona (Keira's auntie).
ReplyDeletehi guys its charlie its so much fun here theres 2 pools here with my new friend ryan it looks like your having fun ill see you all soon
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting trip.
ReplyDeleteCharlie, I'm glad you had a nice holiday too!
Caitlin loved going on this trip she said it was very interesting but didnt like wearing the yellow hat (fiona caitlins mum)
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