Part of Tilbury Power Station has been demolished.

Tilbury Power Station, opposite Gravesend on the River Thames, closed in 2013 and after the successful completion of the decommissioning phase, demolition began in January 2016.

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Over the past six months, owner RWE’s specialist principle demolition contractor Brown and Mason have been undertaking surveys and developing site demolition plans.

VIDEO: The view of the demolition from Gravesend.

Today, the first explosive demolition took place at the site. This is the only explosive event planned for 2016 and is necessary to bring down one of the coal junction towers and its connected conveyors.

It happened at 2pm and could be clearly seen and heard from across the river in Gravesend.

The structure is made mostly of steel and is approximately 28 metres in height.

Ahead of the blast, Steve Boughton, RWE’s Head of Business Development UK said, “Brown and Mason have worked on these demolition plans for the past six months in order to minimise local disruption. We will ensure we keep local people informed of future project developments.”

The other main structures such as the chimneys, boiler house, turbine hall and bunker house are scheduled for explosive demolition in 2017.

The complete demolition of the site is expected towards the end of 2018.