History
The first power station on the site, Frimmersdorf 1 was constructed in 1926 with a capacity of 10MW, later increased to 26MW in 1936. This was mostly demolished in 1964 with the construction of Frimmersdorf 2.
construction of the second power station began in 1954 with the first two 100MW turbines coming online the next year. The power station was gradually expanded over the next decade until it reached two 100MW units and twelve 150MW units. A third power station was built to the north containing two 300MW units with the first one going online in 1966. It became the largest thermal power station in the world in 1966 and kept the record for several years. From 1970 (with the completion of unit Q) to 1988 (when units A and B were decommissioned) the two power stations had a gross capacity of 2,613MW. The turbine hall of Frimmersdorf 2 is still one of the longest in the world. When completed each unit had it's own brick built chimney and there were 31 cooling towers between units A to O. When flue gas desulphurisation plant was added in 1988 all the chimneys were dismantled and replaced with four concrete chimneys between the 16 blocks, also resulting in the demolition of several cooling towers to make space. The two 100MW units where shut down in 1988 and from 2005- 2013 all the 150MW units where shut down. Since then many of the cooling towers have been demolished due to their poor condition. The 300MW units P and Q where placed in reserved near the end of 2017 and are due to shut down in 2021.
The power station soon after completion
An aerial view from the late 60s, before construction of block Q
The explore
Visited with @AndyK, @SpiderMonkey and @extreme_ironing. I first discovered the existence of Frimmersdorf at the start of last year, through a standard scroll about on Google maps. It looked too good to be true: 14 units arranged end to end in a 550m building dating form the 50s and 60s. Annoyingly I don't have a car and I can't speak any German so it was going to be a pain to get to but it was always at the back of my mind, especially as I started to visit the UK power stations and developed a big interest in them. After visiting Ireland twice with @AndyK and @SpiderMonkey to see Marina and Great Ireland, Germany was the next target. We arrived in Germany after a long journey and had ago at a recently closed colliery, but shortly bumped into a worker who didn't seem bothered, but decided it was best to leave and have go later. This gave us time to have a good recce of the building and we found a promising way in. After heading to the apartment we got some sleep and left early and after an exhausting walk we found ourselves in the building and headed straight for the turbine hall. We soon found a door and slowly opened it to find a lovely 150MW turbine and as we walked closer we looked in each direction but couldn't see the end walls of the building, only turbine after turbine- the building is truly vast. Although the main building is deserted, the station to the north, containing units P and Q is still manned and there was a slight bit of steam from one of the cooling towers. Luckily we didn't see anyone and after spending only 8 and a half hours inside I had to be dragged out by the others.
The Turbine Hall
14 units with 9 different turbine designs
wow!
Unit L, looking in the direction of unit A
Unit L again. The lighting was incredibly atmospheric at dawn
The full length of the turbine hall, with unit O in the foreground
Over half a kilometer in the other direction
And from turbine level
Unit A
Unit A
Unit B
Unit B
Unit C
Unit D has had its alternator removed
Unit F
Unit H
Unit J
An impressive selection of valves and pipes, once hidden under the casing of unit J
The gigantic Brown Boveri nameplate of unit J. There was a loose one on the ground floor which I was unable to even lift!
Unit K
Unit K again
Unit L
On top of unit L
Unit N
Unit O
Unit H, looking south
The first power station on the site, Frimmersdorf 1 was constructed in 1926 with a capacity of 10MW, later increased to 26MW in 1936. This was mostly demolished in 1964 with the construction of Frimmersdorf 2.
construction of the second power station began in 1954 with the first two 100MW turbines coming online the next year. The power station was gradually expanded over the next decade until it reached two 100MW units and twelve 150MW units. A third power station was built to the north containing two 300MW units with the first one going online in 1966. It became the largest thermal power station in the world in 1966 and kept the record for several years. From 1970 (with the completion of unit Q) to 1988 (when units A and B were decommissioned) the two power stations had a gross capacity of 2,613MW. The turbine hall of Frimmersdorf 2 is still one of the longest in the world. When completed each unit had it's own brick built chimney and there were 31 cooling towers between units A to O. When flue gas desulphurisation plant was added in 1988 all the chimneys were dismantled and replaced with four concrete chimneys between the 16 blocks, also resulting in the demolition of several cooling towers to make space. The two 100MW units where shut down in 1988 and from 2005- 2013 all the 150MW units where shut down. Since then many of the cooling towers have been demolished due to their poor condition. The 300MW units P and Q where placed in reserved near the end of 2017 and are due to shut down in 2021.
The power station soon after completion
An aerial view from the late 60s, before construction of block Q
The explore
Visited with @AndyK, @SpiderMonkey and @extreme_ironing. I first discovered the existence of Frimmersdorf at the start of last year, through a standard scroll about on Google maps. It looked too good to be true: 14 units arranged end to end in a 550m building dating form the 50s and 60s. Annoyingly I don't have a car and I can't speak any German so it was going to be a pain to get to but it was always at the back of my mind, especially as I started to visit the UK power stations and developed a big interest in them. After visiting Ireland twice with @AndyK and @SpiderMonkey to see Marina and Great Ireland, Germany was the next target. We arrived in Germany after a long journey and had ago at a recently closed colliery, but shortly bumped into a worker who didn't seem bothered, but decided it was best to leave and have go later. This gave us time to have a good recce of the building and we found a promising way in. After heading to the apartment we got some sleep and left early and after an exhausting walk we found ourselves in the building and headed straight for the turbine hall. We soon found a door and slowly opened it to find a lovely 150MW turbine and as we walked closer we looked in each direction but couldn't see the end walls of the building, only turbine after turbine- the building is truly vast. Although the main building is deserted, the station to the north, containing units P and Q is still manned and there was a slight bit of steam from one of the cooling towers. Luckily we didn't see anyone and after spending only 8 and a half hours inside I had to be dragged out by the others.
The Turbine Hall
14 units with 9 different turbine designs
wow!
Unit L, looking in the direction of unit A
Unit L again. The lighting was incredibly atmospheric at dawn
The full length of the turbine hall, with unit O in the foreground
Over half a kilometer in the other direction
And from turbine level
Unit A
Unit A
Unit B
Unit B
Unit C
Unit D has had its alternator removed
Unit F
Unit H
Unit J
An impressive selection of valves and pipes, once hidden under the casing of unit J
The gigantic Brown Boveri nameplate of unit J. There was a loose one on the ground floor which I was unable to even lift!
Unit K
Unit K again
Unit L
On top of unit L
Unit N
Unit O
Unit H, looking south
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