On an industrial site in the Charleroi region, a former power plant once operated as part of the Cockerill-Sambre steel complex. The installation was built as an internal electricity generation facility, supplying power directly to the surrounding steelworks rather than feeding electricity into the public grid. Its primary role was to support energy-intensive processes such as blast furnaces, rolling mills and coke production.

The plant relied on steam turbines, with steam produced by burning industrial by-product gases, most notably coke oven gas, and later supplemented by natural gas. This approach was common in large steel complexes, where combustible gases generated during coke and steel production could be reused efficiently for energy generation, reducing waste and improving overall energy autonomy.

Inside the turbine hall were several steam turbines manufactured by companies such as Escher Wyss, ACEC, Oerlikon and Ingersoll-Rand. One turbine, painted in a distinctive blue colour, later inspired the informal name “Blue Power Plant.” This designation was never an official operational name but emerged years after closure as a descriptive nickname used in photographic and industrial documentation contexts.

Throughout much of the second half of the twentieth century, the power plant functioned as a key component of the Cockerill-Sambre industrial infrastructure, which at its peak was among the most important steel producers in Belgium. From the 1990s onward, structural decline in the regional steel industry led to progressive downsizing, closures and the dismantling of large sections of the industrial complex.

Around 2009-2010, when the remaining steel operations in this area ceased, the power plant was permanently shut down. Much of the equipment was left in place, including the turbine hall, boiler installations and control rooms. Unlike many comparable industrial facilities, the site was not immediately demolished, resulting in a relatively well-preserved example of a dedicated industrial power plant serving heavy industry.

Historically, the facility was known only as part of the Cockerill-Sambre energy supply system; no distinct official plant name is documented. Today, the site is privately owned, inactive and not accessible to the public. It remains a physical reminder of the period when energy production, steelmaking and industrial infrastructure in the Charleroi region were closely interconnected.