The coal-burning plant was demolished as part of DTE Energy’s shift toward clean energy by building the region’s largest battery storage facility.
TRENTON, Mich. — Part of a shuttered power plant near Detroit was demolished Friday by explosives that turned the hulking structure into piles of rubble and kicked up a wall of dust and flames.
A line of controlled explosives detonated across the base of the former Trenton Channel Power Plant’s boiler house around 6 a.m. just before the nine-story, 180-foot (15-meter) tall structure began collapsing along the Detroit River.
DTE Energy officials said the collapse unfolded smoothly and as the utility had planned.
“Once the explosives were lit, the building collapsed upon itself and we were able to safely and successfully bring the boiler house down,” Renee Tomina, DTE Energy’s senior vice president of project management organization told The Detroit News.
The coal-burning power plant was retired in 2022 after nearly …