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28. 11. 2005

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SMOKING FINISHED! A blast of the highest-ever chimney of reinforced concrete in the Czech Republic

196 metres high chimney of Tusimece I power plant (ETU I) will come to the end of its operational life once and for all today. The chimney will be blasted within the demolition of the shut-down ETU I plan. A heap of debris of reinforced concrete weighing more than 10 thousand tons will remain of the past dominant of the plant.

The chimney of Tusimice power plant will be blasted by a demolition team of Ptacek company. The chimney is not made of bricks, which could be pulled down in parts, but it is a compact construction of reinforced concrete on a base of reinforced concrete. In contrast with demolition of brick chimneys, much more explosive will be used up. „There is also trouble with flight of rubble. Accordingly, a safe zone with 300 metres in diameter has been designated around the chimney. We have not demolished such a high chimney with a construction of reinforced concrete in the Czech Republic yet.,“ says Miloslav Ptacek, company owner, who has been doing thins business for 46 years. His demolition team has already pulled down tens of chimneys in the Czech Republic and demolished more than 500 houses in Prague itself. Nearly 39 kilograms of explosives with 318 holes for charges will be necessary for the demolition of the chimney of Tusimice „number one“, whose diameter at the foot is15 metres and wall is 70cm thick.  No wonder – the weight of the monster of reinforced concrete above so called destruction section (25 metres above the foot of the chimney) was 12,500 tons of very resistant material. The chimney will be knocked to the ground within 8 seconds by a technical chief of the blast Oldrich Vasek.

The plant demolition comprises, besides the chimney pull-down, also a demolition of the buildings of the chemical filter plant, black oil station, the boiler plant, dredging station, coal handling, pumping station and a removal of technologies of the machine room. It is estimated that the works will end this very year. The machine room building and divide machine room are scheduled for demolition during next year. The remaining parts of the plant will disappear in 2010, after completion of a complex overhaul in neighbouring Tusimice II.

The construction of Tusimice I was initiated in 1960. The national enterprise Prague Directory of Plants Building was the investor of the construction. The plant was designed by the State Institute for Energy Plant Design – Energoprojekt Praha. The general suppliers for the construction and technological parts were the national enterprise Armabeton Praha and Zavody V. I. Lenina (Plants of V. I. Lenin), national enterprise Pilsen, respectively. The construction of Tusimice one was completed in 1964.

ETU I – the first power plant operating a line of six 110 MW units – was put into operation between 1963 and 1964. Tusimice I generated 92,692.7 GWh of electrical energy (which would be sufficient for the entire Czech Republic for over 1.5 year) and 11,172,045 GJ of heat. It worked at maximum output until the beginning of the 90s when it was put into reduction program. Two units were shut down in 1991-1993, the remaining three units followed in 1998.

Tusimice II power plant (ETU II) with its four 200 MW units was put into operation between 1974 and 1975. The plant generated 125,315.3 GWh of electrical energy and 21,434,857 GJ of heat (supplies mainly to the city of Kadan) until this year´s May. The future of ETU II will be ensured by already initiated comprehensive modernization which will take place between 2007 and 2010 with a goal to produce power and heat for the duration of another 25 years with a higher efficiency of units (as much as 38 %) and with even lower environmental impact. The renewal will replace the whole current capacity of 4x200 MW by new technology. The nearby Libous mine will have sufficient coal capacity, which will be available for the period within the existing territorial extend. In connection with another important emission reduction (CO2 by 15 %, SO2 by 70 %, NOx by 65 % and fly ash by 40 %) the chimney of Tusimice “number two” will not be necessary – combustion products will be conducted directly to cooling towers.

CEZ Power Company will renew comprehensively 12 units of its soft-coal-fired power plants and plans to build 2 new soft-coal units each with an installed capacity of 660 MW. 14 soft-coal units will be closed – due to fuel shortage in given localities.

Ladislav Kriz, Press Officer, CEZ, a.s.