Huge Industrial Chimney Demolished Using 110 lbs Of Explosives And 200 Detonators

A near 500-foot high chimney has been demolished using 110 lbs of explosives and 200 detonators.

The chimney at the Anllares thermal power plant in the municipality of Paramo del Sil in the Spanish region of Castile and Leon was demolished on 25th November.

The dismantling of the decommissioned plant began in summer 2019 as part of a drive to recover the landscape, which is a protected area under the European Union’s Natura 2000 programme.

Fifty kilograms (110 lbs) of explosives and 200 detonators were used to carry out the demolition, given the thickness of the concrete structure, which totalled over half a metre at the base.

Given the scale of the blast, the plant’s buildings and warehouses had to be evacuated and the nearby road closed to traffic.

The 3,550 tonnes of concrete rubble and 80 tonnes of iron and steel left over from the blast will be recycled, according to a press statement from Naturgy, which owned two-thirds of the plant, the other third being owned by the utility company Endesa.

The power plant started operating in 1982 and ceased in December 2018.

According to Naturgy, the company is currently moving its business towards a more sustainable model that it is committed to clean energy.