After nearly 30 years, coal-fired power plant in Logan taken down by implosion
LOGAN – A former coal-burning power plant gave off one last cloud of dirty smoke on Friday, collapsing to the ground in an implosion.
The generating station’s demise drew cheers from onlookers and praise from a top environmentalist.
“The Logan demolition today marks the end of the coal era in New Jersey and a major step towards the state's clean energy future," Ramon Cruz, president of the Sierra Club, said in remarks prepared for the event.
Connecticut-based Starwood Energy plans to develop the site “into one of the largest energy storage projects anywhere on the East Coast,” said Himanshu Saxena, the firm's CEO.
The project will help protect the region’s power grid “and maximize the benefit of the huge influx of incoming renewable energy including from offshore wind,’ he predicted.
The power plant, which stood since 1994 between Route 130 and the Delaware River, came down in just seconds.
The 11 a.m. implosion followed a countdown by observers located across a large field from the complex.
A multi-story building fell first with a rumbling roar, while a towering smokestack wobbled nearby. Then the stack tipped to one side and slammed into the ground.
"Oh my god," exclaimed one woman as the crowd erupted into applause.
Starwood announced plans to close the generating station in March, after reaching an agreement with Atlantic City Electric, which had obtained power from the site.
Saxena on Friday said Starwood’s plan had brought “an early and permanent retirement of the Logan plant and resulted in one of the state's single largest CO2 reduction measures.”
The agreement also allowed Starwood to close a coal-burning plant in Carneys Point.
The primary fuel source at each plant was pulverized coal, delivered to the Logan plant by barge and to Carneys Point by rail, according to an Atlantic City Electric filing with the BPU.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Logan NJ power plant demolished, makes way for energy project
