IJsselcentrale Hengelo

This relatively small power plant was used to deal with peak loads on the power grid. It housed two gas turbines, which could be started very quickly (20 minutes I believe) and could generate 52.7 MW of electric power. I've been in here before on an official tour when it was still operational in 1997, but already put out of use. It was the first year of my Mech. Eng. study and we had to a project about it, which is the reason I know something about how it technically worked and what it used to look like. This small power station replaced a much bigger coal fired one, which was demolished somewhere in the seventies or eighties.

The power plant was put out of use in 1996 and was largely taken apart and demolished at the start of 2001, only the carcass now remains. The energy company sold it to a demolition firm. The gas turbines went to eastern Europe, the building and grounds were then sold to some investment company from Amsterdam. After some squabbles with the demolition firm were resolved, they too put it on sale again. Which it has been ever since.

17-10-2002
Some of my housemates kept nagging me about this building, but I was not too interested at first because I already knew not much besides the frame was left. However looking back on this exploration it was quite an interesting building to explore.

Parked my bike at some small company across the road and jumped through a ready made hole in the fence in front of some traffic. The demolition firm has removed the outer wall, leaving only some kind of metal grating as outer wall. The wind can now freely blow through the building. It is also much lighter and emptier than I remember. This is of course because all the machinery was removed. Only an empty carcass remains.