Cooling towers at Germany's Gundremmingen nuclear power plant demolished

The dismantling of Germany's Gundremmingen nuclear power plant has reached another milestone. Technicians used explosives to demolish its two cooling towers. The owner plans to recycle more than 50,000 tonnes of rubble into construction material. The plant's two nuclear units, each with a capacity of more than 1300 MW, ceased generating electricity at the end of 2017 and 2021, respectively. A large-scale battery storage facility with an output of 400 MW is planned for the site.

German energy company RWE announced that the cooling towers at the decommissioned Gundremmingen nuclear power plant are now a thing of the past. The two 160-metre-high towers were brought down on 25 October in a blast lasting 45 seconds. During the plant's operation, its cooling towers helped minimise the amount of waste heat discharged into the nearby Danube.

“We have been fulfilling our legal obligation to promptly dismantle the Gundremmingen plant since January 2018 (Unit B) and January 2022 (Unit C). The successful demolition of the two cooling towers is visible proof that we are consistently implementing the political programme to phase out nuclear facilities,” said Steffen Kanitz, a member of the board of RWE Power AG.

The demolition, for which technicians used 600 kilograms of explosives in 1 800 boreholes, was preceded by several months of careful preparation. RWE said around 30,000 spectators watched the demolition from a safe distance. No nearby buildings or adjacent high-voltage power lines were damaged, which was the main objective. The company estimates that around 56,000 tonnes of material remain from the towers, which construction workers will now process into recycled aggregate.

“We prepared intensively for the demolition of the cooling towers over many months, in close coordination with the district of Günzburg and the municipality of Gundremmingen. Special thanks go to representatives of the district and municipality for their constructive cooperation in recent weeks,” emphasised construction manager Dr. Ringel.

Replacing the plant with battery storage

The Gundremmingen plant had three boiling water reactor (BWR) units. The first unit, with a capacity of 250 MW (gross), generated electricity between 1967 and 1977. The other two units, each with an electrical capacity of 1344 MW (gross), began operating in 1984 and 1985. Because of Germany's nuclear phase-out, neither unit even reached 40 years of operation. Gundremmingen Unit B ceased generating electricity at the end of 2017, followed four years later by Unit C in 2021. The dismantling of both units is due to be completed in 2030.

RWE plans to use the nuclear power plant site to build Germany's largest battery storage facility, with an output of 400 MW and a capacity of 700 MWh. The company plans to bring the facility online in early 2028.