Demolition of the Prunéřov I lignite power plant in the Chomutov region of Czechia is complete

Demolition of the Prunéřov I lignite power plant in the Chomutov region is complete. Excavators razed its production and operational facilities, leaving piles of scrap metal and concrete rubble that are gradually being removed. The administration building with its gatehouse, along with buildings containing staff facilities and changing rooms, remain. The site is ready for further use. The location is expected to continue serving the energy sector. Ota Schnepp, spokesperson for the ČEZ Group, told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today. The site had been considered as a location for a car battery factory.

The power plant has been out of service since the end of June 2020. Demolition of the cooling towers marked the start of work on the roughly 40-hectare site in May 2022. “The remaining scrap metal, which the contractor is removing by rail, will soon be gone too. The remaining construction waste will be used as fill for landscaping,” said Jiří Hampl, director of the Tušimice and Prunéřov power plants in the ČEZ Group.

The administration building and buildings with staff facilities could potentially be put to further use. “They are relatively new and modernly equipped, so it would be a shame to raze them. Several offices in the administration building are still occupied. They are used by satellite offices of ČEZ Group subsidiaries and representatives of contractors. Two permanent employees also work here,” Hampl added.

Around 50.000 tonnes of iron of all kinds were used to build the Prunéřov I power plant and equip it for operation. “More than 145.000 tonnes of construction rubble have been processed at the recycling centre. The certified crushed recycled material was used to fill the underground spaces of the demolished buildings, underground channels, sumps and other areas,” Hampl noted.

The Prunéřov I power plant supplied heat to Klášterec nad Ohří and, when the neighbouring power plant was shut down, also to Chomutov and Jirkov. Since the 2020/21 heating season, heat for Klášterec has been supplied by Prunéřov II. At the end of its service life, Prunéřov I had 155 employees. Most found jobs at Prunéřov II or the nearby Tušimice power plant, while others were of retirement age, according to Schnepp.

The power plant operated for 53 years. It consumed more than 138,5 million tonnes of fuel. During modernisation and environmental upgrades in the second half of the 1990s, its capacity of 660 MW was reduced to a total of 440 MW after two generating units were shut down.

According to Schnepp, the site is expected to continue serving as a major base for modern and, above all, environmentally friendly energy initiatives in northern Bohemia, either directly under the ČEZ Group or through potential investors. Everything will now depend on feasibility studies, the spokesperson said.