The decommissioned Awirs power plant in Flémalle (Liège province) had a thunderous send-off on Friday morning as the enormous boiler and chimney were razed to the ground with 84 kilos of explosives. Demolition work will continue throughout the year.
Completed in 1951, the plant had at the time used cutting-edge engineering to produce electricity for around 160,000 households. But in August 2020 it was closed down, no longer complying with modern environmental standards. It is due to be replaced by an advanced gas-steam plant to be located not far from the site currently occupied.
A total evacuation of the 200-metre perimeter was ordered at 09:30, this paused river traffic. Sirens sounded at 09:56 and water sprayers were switched on to reduce the dust created by the collapsing structures. At 10:00 precisely the explosives were detonated, first bringing down the impressive 1,500-tonne chimney perpendicular to the Meuse, and then the 2,800-tonne boiler one minute later.
The chimney, originally 150 metres high, had been lowered to 75 metres to allow it to collapse into the demarcated perimeter using 20 kilos of explosives. For the 56-metre-high boiler, 64 kilos of explosives were used.
🔵Avant de débuter le week-end, voici quelques images impressionnantes du 1er affalement par dynamitage d'une cheminée de l'ancienne centrale des #Awirs. ✅Une action rondement menée par les équipes de Wanty et dans des conditions de #sécurité optimales.#withENGIE pic.twitter.com/H0W8L6aydS
— ENGIE Belgium 🇧🇪 (@EngieBelgium) February 24, 2023
Deconstruction work began in May 2021. In September 2022, the first of the four boilers was removed and in October of the same year, the silos were blown up. This Friday it was the turn of the chimney and the boiler of unit 3.
For the Wanty Group taking care of the demolition, this is the biggest plant it has had to deconstruct so far and has so far taken 134,000 hours of work.
“98% of the materials making up the power station are being recycled, via selective deconstruction,” pointed out Benoît Liegeois, head of the Awirs site for Engie Electrabel, “2% of waste will be evacuated to a specialised treatment channel, particularly asbestos.”
The rest of the structure will be gradually taken down during the course of this year, for a planned end of the site on 29 December 2023.
