The unused industrial structures of the last century that kept the city alive are now abandoned and must be included again in the new city dynamics. In this case, the thermo-electric plant in Sant Adriá de Besós has stopped functioning as such but taking advantage of its privileged location in the Catalan coast and its impotent structure, it can become a center of renewable energy production.

An energy chain can be created by turning the plant into a factory of eolic energy turbines that can be transported directly to new offshore farms. This process would be powered by the chimneys, that become solar updraft towers and work 24/7 to provide a steady flow of clean energy. To generate energy, the towers use the flow of air heated by the sun under an extensive roof. The conditions under this roof produce a greenhouse effect that allow plants to grow and generate a hub of urban farms and food labs open to the city.

The aim of the project is to change the paradigm of energy production from an industrial mindset to a post-industrial clean energy production where the system created is a cycle that is continuously retrofitted. 

For further references:

http://www.solar-updraft-tower.com/en#technical_concept/index

Energy Chain is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in City and Technology in 2015 by:

Students: Mayra López

Faculty: Willy Muller and Jordi Vivaldi