Demolition works on the old Matosinhos Refinery, located in the northern Portuguese city of Matosinhos, will begin on October 23rd. The overall duration of this phase is estimated at two and a half years.
This will be the most visible aspect of decommissioning and dismantling the old Refinery, a process that began approximately two years ago. Throughout this period, a wide range of preparatory operations were implemented, including the safe shutdown of the process units, the cleaning and degassing of process units, equipment, and pipes to ensure the elimination of hydrocarbons and related products. Once dismantling is complete, the environmental soil rehabilitation phase will follow.
To prepare for the start of the demolition works, contacts and meetings were held with all the stakeholders directly and indirectly impacted in this project, such as the government, the Municipality of Matosinhos, regulatory and licensing bodies, civil protection, and local authorities, as well as residents and trade associations in the area surrounding the refinery.
At these meetings, the general outlines of the demolition project and its timetable were presented. Additionally, the company detailed the measures it plans to implement for monitoring, controlling, and mitigating any specific constraints that may arise during the ongoing work.
All these measures can be accessed on the website that Galp established to update information on the course of the demolition work.
Pictures and videos of the site are available here.