According to EDP, in a written response sent to the Lusa news agency, the two chimneys of the former Sines coal-fired power plant will be demolished on Thursday at 3 p.m. "using explosives."

"The chimneys will be demolished in a controlled manner within the plant's perimeter, using explosives, a method chosen because it is the safest and most efficient for structures of this size," they revealed.

In the same statement, the company estimated that the demolition "will take less than a minute."

"The ongoing dismantling and demolition phase, scheduled for completion in 2028, is part of the plant's decommissioning process, which represents the final stage of this project's life cycle," it stated.

For this operation, EDP indicated, a "security perimeter was defined with civil protection and local authorities," specifically the GNR (National Republican Guard), which will control "access and road closures, with prior notification to the public."

“This operation is being conducted in accordance with high technical and safety standards, and in close coordination with the competent authorities," the company emphasized.

"All measures" were adopted to ensure "the least possible impact on the surrounding area”.

The municipality of Sines, for its part, stated that "the operation will produce some occasional noise, followed by the temporary emission of dust caused by the fragmentation of the concrete."

Appropriate mitigation measures will also be implemented, including sprinkler irrigation to contain dust, it added.

EDP ​​also told Lusa that it was "continuously evaluating opportunities associated with the development of new energy projects" and "working on new solutions in the power plant area based on clean energy."

EDP closed the Sines coal-fired power plant in January 2021, an early closure that the company justified at the time by the deteriorating market conditions.

The thermoelectric plant supplied a third of Portugal's electricity in the early 1990s, but gradually lost momentum with the growth of renewable energy, accounting for only 4% of electricity consumption in 2020, according to REN data.

In November 2022, the Socialist Party government announced a €98.9 million allocation through the Just Transition Fund to "mitigate the effects of the closure of the Sines Thermoelectric Power Plant," aiming to reintegrate workers affected by the unit's closure, along with the creation of training and entrepreneurship support initiatives.