DRAKESBORO, Ky. (WATE) — The Tennessee Valley Authority released dramatic footage on Thursday of the implosion of three cooling towers at a shuttered coal plan in Kentucky.

The three 435-foot cooling towers at the Paradise Fossil Plant site in Drakesboro, Kentucky were safely imploded on Nov. 10 as the TVA continues to clear the site for potential new development.

The coal plant served the Tennessee Valley for 59 years.

The agency hopes to return the site to “brownfield” status around 2030.

Brownfields are properties which the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminate. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, their Brownfields Program in 2022 has helped make nearly 150,000 acres of land ready for anticipated reuse.

In 2017, the gas-fired Paradise Combined Cycle Plant was opened on the site. Additional gas-fired combustion turbines at Paradise are also being built on the site.

Paradise Fossil Units 1 and 2 were retired in 2017. Paradise Unit 3 stopped operations in 2020. According to TVA, this effectively closed the coal-fired plant.

“The decommissioning program directly aligns with TVA’s commitment to environmental stewardship and economic development as we execute safe, environmentally sound, and cost-effective projects across TVA’s power service area,” said Charles Chappell, general manager, Decommissioning.

TVA is investing billions of dollars to help build “the energy system of the future,” which they say will provide low-cost, reliable power. This includes gas-fire plants like the one at the Paradise site.