Natural Electricity Museum

The museum focuses on the history of the Serra da Estrela Hydroelectric system. This has six operational power plants and two decommissioned ones, dating from between 1909 and 2003. The Museum occupies the Senhora do Desterro station on the River Alva, 800 m above sea level. This first part of the system was built at the initiative of local industrialists and in 1909 began supplying electricity to Seia, 6 km away. It went out of production in 1994 and opened as a heritage centre in 2011 in a partnership between the power company EDP and the Municipality of Seia. The building is in a traditional style with red-tile roofs and a modernist block in concrete nearby. The museum relates the history of electricity and its production. Visitors see the imported generator sets and turbines made by Voith of Heidenheim, Escher Wyss of Zürich and Charmilles of Geneva. Also preserved are the electrical control panel, the pipeline and the outflow to the river. There are pleasant, water-side walks to see other parts of the system.