One things for sure; I certainly love me a Power Station (or large Industrial Derp); so I was more than happy to sink my teeth into this one during a French Exploring Weekend back in April. We only had two sites on the list; two big ones at that, and we were successful at both. This was the first of our two explores that weekend and we had heard things about tough secca and to always be vigilant here. This turned out to be false info; and it was a very relaxed explore indeed.
We arrived on site at the crack of dawn and set straight into getting inside and getting it shot. It was surprisingly hard to shoot here; with some very bad blow out and exposure in many places. I may need to begin starting to bracket my photos from now on. There was a lot to see here; and it was interesting to see the Alsthom Turbines enclosed within huge cowlings.
The Coal fired Power Station “Le Maxe” opened in 1971 and had a capacity of 500MW. The Moselle River provided cooling to the Power Station. The Power Station was controlled by a Digital Soft Desk and had Turbines from Alsthom and Boilers from Stein and Roubaix. Planning for Le Maxe began in the early 1960s by French state-owned company Électricité de France; with construction beginning in 1967. Le Maxe joined several other Power Stations along the Moselle River; Blenod-les-Pont-a-Mousson, Richemont and Cattenom which is the only one which remains operational.
Le Maxe wound down in 2015 with its First Unit closing on the 2nd of April and the Second on the 9th April 2015. The Precipitators are long gone; with the chimney due to go in Autumn 2024.
To be continued in a Reply
We arrived on site at the crack of dawn and set straight into getting inside and getting it shot. It was surprisingly hard to shoot here; with some very bad blow out and exposure in many places. I may need to begin starting to bracket my photos from now on. There was a lot to see here; and it was interesting to see the Alsthom Turbines enclosed within huge cowlings.
The Coal fired Power Station “Le Maxe” opened in 1971 and had a capacity of 500MW. The Moselle River provided cooling to the Power Station. The Power Station was controlled by a Digital Soft Desk and had Turbines from Alsthom and Boilers from Stein and Roubaix. Planning for Le Maxe began in the early 1960s by French state-owned company Électricité de France; with construction beginning in 1967. Le Maxe joined several other Power Stations along the Moselle River; Blenod-les-Pont-a-Mousson, Richemont and Cattenom which is the only one which remains operational.
Le Maxe wound down in 2015 with its First Unit closing on the 2nd of April and the Second on the 9th April 2015. The Precipitators are long gone; with the chimney due to go in Autumn 2024.
To be continued in a Reply
