1998 2001 Vockerode Power Plant (also called Elbe Power Plant) was a

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

and later also gas-fired power plant in

Vockerode Vockerode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Oranienbaum-Wörlitz. At Vockerode, there was a large coal-fired power plant, the Vockerode Powe ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. It was built in 1937 and shut-down between 1994 and 1998.

History

Vockerode has been the site of a power plant for almost 60 years. While the four

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

s of the plant were demolished in 2001, much of the original building still exists today. Till 2013 it was used for events and art display. Today plant is unsafe and closed to public. The first block of the lignite-fired power plant (6 x 35 MW) was built between 1937 and 1940. After 1943 installation was begun on the world's first commercial

HVDC A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curren ...

, the Elbe Project. It was completed in 1945, but never went in service. The power plant suffered no damage during World War II. After dismantling of the equipment during the soviet occupation the inverter hall was transformed into a workshop. A lot of equipment from the power plant was also dismantled. Between 1953 and 1959 the power plant was refurbished and a second block (12 x 36 MW) was built to provide for growing electricity demands of industry and households in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. On July 22, 1960 an

Ilyushin Il-14 The Ilyushin Il-14 (NATO reporting name: Crate) was a Soviet twin-engine commercial and military personnel and cargo transport aircraft that first flew in 1950, and entered service in 1954. The Il-14 was also manufactured in East Germany by VEB ...

plane of the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

flying through dense

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

scratched one of the chimneys and crashed. Seven people on board the plane and a worker on the ground were killed. After 1968 the city of

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

was supplied with heat from Vockerode Power Plant via a 15 kilometres long line. In 1971 a gas turbine power plant was built, which consisted of six 27 MW units. Between 1972 and 1974

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

facilities were built on an area of 64

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s, which were heated by the power plant, for growing

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es and

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.

s. The green house facilities were shut down in 1991, and demolished in 1997. In 1994 the lignite power plant was shut down. In 1998 the gas turbine power plant was shut down and on September 22, 2001 the chimneys were demolished by explosives. In 2005 the oil tanks of the gas turbine plant were demolished. {{coord, 51.845429, N, 12.358632, E, source:dewiki_region:DE-ST_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Coal-fired power stations in Germany Buildings and structures demolished in 2001 Demolished buildings and structures in Germany