In three controlled explosions, a former coal-fired power station in Germany has been partially destroyed.
The 110-metre cooling tower, the 250-metre chimney, and the 70-metre boiler house have all collapsed at the Lünen plant, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Last June, work started on dismantling the site but it took 420 kilograms of explosives to demolish it after more than 80 years of existence since it was first commissioned in 1938.
“The reinforced concrete buildings had to be pre-drilled, we drilled a total of over 2100 holes in the various buildings,” said André Schewcow, Managing Director, Deutsche Sprengunion GmbH.
“We weakened the steel structures, which meant that we had to use burner teams to prepare the premises, so that the explosive charges, which can separate the steel, could then collapse the construction.”
It’s part of Germany’s plan to stop using coal by 2038 despite it being a quarter of its energy mix.