A 426-foot (130-meter) boiler house came crashing down in a controlled demolition at the decommissioned Mehrum coal power plant in Hohenhameln, Germany, on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Around 700 kilograms of explosives were used to bring the huge structure down. The boiler house was once central to coal combustion at the plant, which makes its collapse a symbolic moment for the site. It is part of a redevelopment that will turn the property into a gas power plant and battery storage facility.

Mehrum first went into operation in 1965, and its last-used unit, Block 3, was added in 1979. The plant was barred from burning coal in December 2021 under Germany's coal phase-out law, but it was brought back onto the grid in August 2022 from the reserve as energy-security worries grew after the war in Ukraine. Demolition has moved in stages since then, starting with the blasting of two silos in October 2024 and the toppling of the neighboring 130-meter cooling tower in April 2025. Earlier reports said the site was expected to be fully cleared by 2027. The big questions now are what the new gas and battery site will look like and how it will fit into Germany's plan to end coal power by 2038.