Eight injured in Dutch power plant explosions

"There was one larger explosion and a few smaller explosions. People were injured. There was a small fire at the installation but it has been extinguished," a spokeswoman for the Dutch security region Kennemerland said.

A spokesman for Nuon, which is owned by Sweden's Vattenfall, said only one explosion happened around 0830 CET (0630 GMT) while employees were working on the plant's high voltage grid.

Eight people were taken to hospital, of which four were kept there for further examination, the Nuon spokesman said.

One person was seriously injured.

At the complex, which houses two power plants, the explosion took place at the plant which was not operating, the Nuon spokesman said.

This plant has a capacity of 460 megawatts.

It was unclear whether the explosion at the plant in the town of Velsen Noord, 30 kms west of Amsterdam, had hit production.

The second plant, which is still running, has a capacity of 360 megawatts.