A tower of the Saint-Avold power station, in Moselle, dynamited

Ten thousand tons of concrete swallowed up in a few seconds. The tallest tower of the Emile Huchet power station in Saint-Avold (Moselle) was dynamited this Sunday, February 11, a symbolic step in the conversion of the site from coal to hydrogen. Cooling tower number 5, which measured around 120 meters high, collapsed before the eyes of hundreds of onlookers.

Some 200 people, including fireworks and law enforcement officers, were mobilized on Sunday for this “lightning strike” which took place at 11 a.m., according to Jean-Michel Mazalèrat, the president of GazelEnergie, the company which operates the plant. Emile Huchet is one of only two coal-fired power stations still in operation in France, with that of Cordemais (Loire-Atlantique).

These two power plants are preparing their conversion to biomass but the Saint-Avold site wants to become an “ecoplatform”: it is planning other projects such as “Emil’hy” (for Emile Huchet and hydrogen), which should allow the horizon 2027 production of low-carbon and renewable hydrogen, by electrolysis of water.

The engineering studies are being finalized and public consultation should begin at the end of February, Camille Jaffrelo, spokesperson for GazelEnergie, a subsidiary of the EPH group of Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky, told AFP.

The project plans, for 2030, a total capacity of 400 MW and a production of 56,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year. Initially, the initial phase will primarily supply the German steelmaker Saarstahl Hoolding Saar (SHS), located opposite. To date, it represents an investment of 780 million euros.