Industry Chimneys of the former Tamoil refinery collapse
The last two chimneys of the former Tamoil refinery in Collombey-Muraz in the Lower Valais were blown down on Thursday afternoon. Several hundred onlookers watched the collapse. The refinery had already been shut down in 2015.
21.05.2026, 16:47
SDA
The chimneys, which were almost 100 meters high and weighed a total of 4,000 tons, collapsed like a house of cards within a few seconds.
The operation required the use of 50 kilograms of explosives. The surrounding roads were closed for almost an hour for safety reasons.
The rubble will be reused in construction projects in the region, as Stéphane Trachsler, Director of Tamoil Switzerland, said at a press conference on Thursday.
A certain nostalgia
"It's a symbolic day," said Olivier Turin, the mayor of Collombey-Muraz. "It closes an industrial chapter, but opens the door to a new beginning that will change our local landscape and that of the Chablais."
Trachsler said that it was impossible not to feel nostalgic about the disappearance of a site that supplied Valais and Switzerland with energy and provided a livelihood for so many families for decades.
This dismantling is both an end and a beginning. The future still had to be written. However, it will certainly not be characterized by heavy industry, but will instead turn to new technologies.
Focus on energy transition
As the municipality and Tamoil Switzerland 2025 had announced, the site is to focus in particular on the energy transition. It would be possible to locate start-ups associated with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).
The site is also to be connected to a freight station. This would enable future companies at the site to transport their freight via the Simplon line. The ambitious goal is to create 4,000 to 5,000 jobs on the site.
On January 13, 2015, Tamoil Switzerland announced the discontinuation of its activities at the oil refinery in Lower Valais. The 238 employees at the site lost their jobs, while over 20 employees at Tamoil's headquarters in Geneva were affected. In 2019, the company announced that it intended to dismantle the plant in Collombey-Muraz as it had not found any interested parties for a takeover.
The operation of the refinery was not without problems for the environment. There were several incidents. In 2008, for example, 151,000 liters of petrol flowed from the refinery into the Rhone and polluted the groundwater.
