MARY Tavy hydro-electric power station could become 'a virtual hub' if plans are approved by the Dartmoor National Park Authority.
South West Lakes Trust has applied to the Park planning authority for permission to replace an existing building at the site with a similar sized one to house some interpretation and an education room for use for talks on guided visits.
It will also be possible to view the hydro plant on pre-arranged visits as at present.
Trust spokesperson Julia Moysey said the aim was to create a 'virtual hydro hub', which would reduce the number of visits to the site.
She said: 'The trust has been consulting with local people about the hydro station.
'The idea is not to have a great number of people physically visiting the site, but have IT links so they can access it through computers offsite - a virtual hub.
'There is difficulty with access to the site, and although there have been pre-arranged visits by schools and colleges it is not intended to generate a large increase.'
The virtual hub would include information on hydro-electric power and up-to-date information on what was happening at the Mary Tavy site, which anyone would be able to access.
A planning application was previously submitted, but Ms Moysey said the new one was on a smaller scale.
If it was approved, funding for the scheme would be sought, so it could be next year before anything happened.