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Belgium - Green Power (05/2021) | Oblivion State Urban Exploration

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Belgium Green Power (05/2021)

Urban Relics

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Now this was an exciting explore! Only recently put to rest, the electricity in this biomass power plant was stil working. Lights burning everywhere and the constant buzz of generators throughout the entire plant. I was totally expecting to get caught here and I came prepared. I had a spare sd-card in my pocket with a few dummies, so I was ready to make the quick switch and save whatever I might have accumulated at the moment of my capture... After treading about as carefully and quietly as humanly possible for about an hour or so, it became clear that there was no one else there. I could relax a little and focus on the photography. I ended up roaming around this huge power plant for well over six hours, which would account for the rather large amount of photos... Love at first sight with the immense classic Brown Boveri gas turbines. Well, you'll see what I mean when you look at the photos. Or perhaps you won't, which is also cool.

First some background on this power plant perhaps?

Powering large industrial sites requires a lot of energy. It is therefore not surprising that large power plants are located in the vicinity of large industrial areas. This is also the case with this power station, which was built near the Liège industry. Construction started shortly after World War II and the first coal-powered units were put into service in the early 1950s. They each produced 55 MW. From the mid-1960s, two additional units were built, fueled by gas and with a capacity of 130 MW each. Finally, a fifth unit followed in the mid-1970s, reaching a capacity of 300 MW. Just before the turn of the millennium, the three oldest units were shut down and the gas-fired fifth unit was kept as a spare unit. The unit that is the subject of this series underwent a thorough metamorphosis, in which a switch was made from fossil fuel to 100% biomass.

The plant is traditionally built with a boiler room, where the biomass was prepared and burned to generate steam. This steam was then sent to the adjacent turbine hall, where the turbines were powered, which in turn powered the alternators that generated the electricity. The turbine hall contains 5 turbines: two Brown Boveris, two Rateau-Schneiders and one Stork.

biomassa.png

In mid-2020, after 15 years of service as a biomass power station, this last unit was also shut down when the decision was made to build a new gas-fired power station.

Ready for a few photos?

Let's have a look at the turbine hall first...
GreenPower01.jpg


GreenPower02.jpg


GreenPower03.jpg


GreenPower04.jpg


GreenPower05.jpg


GreenPower06.jpg


GreenPower07.jpg


No power plant can go without at least one control room. This one has two...

GreenPower08.jpg


GreenPower09.jpg


Lots of fun stuff underneath the turbines too...

GreenPower10.jpg


GreenPower11.jpg


GreenPower12.jpg


GreenPower13.jpg


GreenPower14.jpg


And then there is the boiler room. Still looking hot today!

GreenPower19.jpg


GreenPower20.jpg


GreenPower21.jpg


GreenPower22.jpg


GreenPower23.jpg


GreenPower24.jpg


GreenPower26.jpg


GreenPower27.jpg


GreenPower28.jpg


GreenPower29.jpg


GreenPower30.jpg


GreenPower31.jpg


Yay! You made it to the very end! Told you it was gonna be an extensive set... :) Thanks for watching! Hope you enjoyed it...

 

The_Raw

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Damn, what a thing of beauty :love: Would love to see this one. Great report!
 

Urban Relics

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Damn, what a thing of beauty :love: Would love to see this one. Great report!
Thanks! :) They really are gorgeous, aren't they? The other turbines were impressive too, but those Brown Boveris were really something else... You don't often get to see them in this impeccable state either. Apart from one idiot, who apparently felt the need to scratch his name into the blue turbine, there were no traces of vandalism anywhere. The active security on the site probably has a little something to do with that... ;)
 

bob

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cool im envious ^^

got caught yesterday there before entering :'( sad i fucked up my chance
 

soup

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Now this was an exciting explore! Only recently put to rest, the electricity in this biomass power plant was stil working. Lights burning everywhere and the constant buzz of generators throughout the entire plant. I was totally expecting to get caught here and I came prepared. I had a spare sd-card in my pocket with a few dummies, so I was ready to make the quick switch and save whatever I might have accumulated at the moment of my capture... After treading about as carefully and quietly as humanly possible for about an hour or so, it became clear that there was no one else there. I could relax a little and focus on the photography. I ended up roaming around this huge power plant for well over six hours, which would account for the rather large amount of photos... Love at first sight with the immense classic Brown Boveri gas turbines. Well, you'll see what I mean when you look at the photos. Or perhaps you won't, which is also cool.

First some background on this power plant perhaps?

Powering large industrial sites requires a lot of energy. It is therefore not surprising that large power plants are located in the vicinity of large industrial areas. This is also the case with this power station, which was built near the Liège industry. Construction started shortly after World War II and the first coal-powered units were put into service in the early 1950s. They each produced 55 MW. From the mid-1960s, two additional units were built, fueled by gas and with a capacity of 130 MW each. Finally, a fifth unit followed in the mid-1970s, reaching a capacity of 300 MW. Just before the turn of the millennium, the three oldest units were shut down and the gas-fired fifth unit was kept as a spare unit. The unit that is the subject of this series underwent a thorough metamorphosis, in which a switch was made from fossil fuel to 100% biomass.

The plant is traditionally built with a boiler room, where the biomass was prepared and burned to generate steam. This steam was then sent to the adjacent turbine hall, where the turbines were powered, which in turn powered the alternators that generated the electricity. The turbine hall contains 5 turbines: two Brown Boveris, two Rateau-Schneiders and one Stork.

biomassa.png

In mid-2020, after 15 years of service as a biomass power station, this last unit was also shut down when the decision was made to build a new gas-fired power station.

Ready for a few photos?

Let's have a look at the turbine hall first...
GreenPower01.jpg


GreenPower02.jpg


GreenPower03.jpg


GreenPower04.jpg


GreenPower05.jpg


GreenPower06.jpg


GreenPower07.jpg


No power plant can go without at least one control room. This one has two...

GreenPower08.jpg


GreenPower09.jpg


Lots of fun stuff underneath the turbines too...

GreenPower10.jpg


GreenPower11.jpg


GreenPower12.jpg


GreenPower13.jpg


GreenPower14.jpg


And then there is the boiler room. Still looking hot today!

GreenPower19.jpg


GreenPower20.jpg


GreenPower21.jpg


GreenPower22.jpg


GreenPower23.jpg


GreenPower24.jpg


GreenPower26.jpg


GreenPower27.jpg


GreenPower28.jpg


GreenPower29.jpg


GreenPower30.jpg


GreenPower31.jpg


Yay! You made it to the very end! Told you it was gonna be an extensive set... :) Thanks for watching! Hope you enjoyed it...

WOW!!!!! Yeah I felt that when you said you realized no one was there and you could relax. You really caught something amazing here, thank you for sharing!!! What kind of camera do you use?
 

Urban Relics

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cool im envious ^^

got caught yesterday there before entering :'( sad i fucked up my chance
Oh damn... I think I was just very lucky. But I did get there really early. I was inside before sunrise. Maybe that made the difference...
 
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Urban Relics

OS Full member
OS Full member
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Messages
47
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151
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Belgium
Website
www.urbanrelics.be
WOW!!!!! Yeah I felt that when you said you realized no one was there and you could relax. You really caught something amazing here, thank you for sharing!!! What kind of camera do you use?
Thanks for the kind words! :)

I don't use anything fancy. A Canon 70D EOS with a 10-18mm wide angle lens and sometimes a 50mm for detail shots... I've been contemplating an upgrade to a full frame camera, but that would mean a big investment. And I'm not sure I would feel comfortable with such expensive equipment, seeing as I mainly do industrial locations... And the dirtier and greasier they are, the more I prefer them. 😁 Not exactly a good environment for expensive camera gear. And for the time being the 70D still seems to be doing the trick...
 

soup

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Thanks for the kind words! :)

I don't use anything fancy. A Canon 70D EOS with a 10-18mm wide angle lens and sometimes a 50mm for detail shots... I've been contemplating an upgrade to a full frame camera, but that would mean a big investment. And I'm not sure I would feel comfortable with such expensive equipment, seeing as I mainly do industrial locations... And the dirtier and greasier they are, the more I prefer them. 😁 Not exactly a good environment for expensive camera gear. And for the time being the 70D still seems to be doing the trick...
Oh nice!! I hear lots of good things about that camera body! I've been looking to upgrade mine and trying to keep the same lenses. The full frame ones don't match with the lenses that I currently have, so I feel you about that being a big investment. But your shots look great!!!! Haha, this urbex shit is ADDICTING. I cannot stop finding places along the way wherever I go and pin dropping it for later xDD
 

Urban Relics

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Oh nice!! I hear lots of good things about that camera body! I've been looking to upgrade mine and trying to keep the same lenses. The full frame ones don't match with the lenses that I currently have, so I feel you about that being a big investment. But your shots look great!!!! Haha, this urbex shit is ADDICTING. I cannot stop finding places along the way wherever I go and pin dropping it for later xDD
Haha, tell me about it! In the beginning I got excited about anything and everything! An iffy looking shed was enough to get the juices flowing 😝 After a while though I started developing an outspoken preference for industrial stuff. Not a big fan of private houses, but I do like abandoned churches and chateaus too. Oh, and old cars... But if I'm being honest (which I usually am 🤪) I'd much rather skip all the other stuff in favor of a nice abandoned factory. I can roam around for hours in there...

The 70D is definitely a good camera. It's just that my wide angle is very sensitive to chromatic aberration. So sometimes I'll have to do a lot of cleaning up in post treatment. I've been on the lookout for an alternative, but then, if I should decide to go for the full frame after all, I'd have to invest in a new set of lenses all over again. All of that wouldn't be important if money wasn't an issue. Unfortunately though my mother didn't marry a Rockefeller. 😞 So yeah...
 
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