Ecological Transition
Litoral, the breeze of change
General detail of the progress of the dismantling work at the Litoral thermal power plant.
The wind blows slightly from the east and curls the Mediterranean just before it touches dry land on the beach of Cueva Alta in Carboneras. It is a gentle autumn breeze, still warm, but the sand is no longer as bustling as it was months ago when the thermometer was soaring. However, just 100 to 200 metres further south, activity is frenetic. It is not for nothing that this part of the Almeria coastline has become one of the hot spots of the energy transition in Spain. There, Endesa is dismantling one of Spain's most important coal-fired power plants.
Operator of the dismantling team of the Litoral Thermal Power Plant during the dismantling work of the generator one turbine.
The technological maturity of renewables and the more restrictive environmental policies promoted by various international organisations, including the European Union, led to the facility's closure. With two generators and a capacity of 1,159 MW, the plant was disconnected from the grid in December 2021 and from then on a laborious process began to dismantle this colossus. The aim is to free up the industrial land on which it sits so that new projects can flourish to catalyse the area's economy.
Operator of the dismantling team of the Litoral thermal power plant in cutting work.
But before that, at the same time as the future is being shaped, as new ideas are being grounded in administrative procedures, frontline workers are still there executing plans to return the land to its original state with precision. In an almost surgical way they strip each of the structures layer by layer until they become what is in reality a power station: a pile of pieces of metal, pipes and cables... and, later on, mountains of rubble, which will also be given another useful life, because every centimetre of this power station will continue to live on in a second life that will be given to it.
Operator of the dismantling team of the Litoral thermal power plant in cutting work.
Operator of the dismantling team of the Litoral Thermal Power Plant during the dismantling work of the generator one turbine.
"This part of the Almería coastline has become one of the hot spots of the energy transition in Spain".
General detail of the progress of the dismantling work at the Litoral thermal power plant.
Sheltered from the balmy breeze, the screens and computers relaying information on the plant's performance have given way to screens protecting the decommissioning specialists. A cycle has come to an end. And a new door will open. It's always been that way.
Operator of the decommissioning team of the Litoral Thermal Power Plant during decommissioning work inside a safety bubble.
"The aim is to free up the industrial land on which it sits so that new projects can flourish to catalyse the area's economy."
Operators working on dismantling work inside a safety bubble in the structure of the Litoral Thermal Power Plant.
The heat of the steam has been replaced by that of the blowtorches that relentlessly dissect the vast network of parts that make up a thermal power plant. The project is now approaching the first third of its total length. And, little by little, in the time that has elapsed since it stopped producing electricity until now, a natural transition has taken place between the people who took care of its operation and maintenance and those who are in charge of breaking it down with a firm hand, remembering what each element was and thinking about the future.
Operator of the dismantling team of the Litorial Terminca power plant during a day's work.
