Blue Power Station: Belgium March 2015

Surrounded by fully functioning factories to abandoned sites and some sites well into demolition we find the Blue Power station The main source of power to the vast Carsid site in Charleroi. I believe it would of been powered by the waste gas produced by varying parts of the steelworks it powered. This would of mainly come from the blast furnace.

As the production grew on the site the old powerplant south of the river wasn’t up to the task and this powerplant was built.

As we wander up the road and pass by the power plant we are treated to a beautiful sunrise a nice welcome back to Belgium for my first visit of the year.

We entered into the boiler house which was suffering from some kind of flood or leak in the basement. Not a lot to see in here just gantries, walk ways, big blocks and small pipes. Not too much to catch the eye. However as you make it to the top floor things get interesting. A large open space, big pipes with decayed cladding and chimneys going up to the ceiling. Overall it has quite a steampunk vibe to it.

After working out where the turbine hall was and working out access we was treated to a plethora of turbines in all shapes and sizes with varying outputs from 6.5mw to 75mw.

Now this part seems in a lot better condition than the boiler house, other than a large puddle and some peeling paint it looks well preserved.

The icing on the cake here however is the control room. Its a real stunner, in great condition and still has power as you can see in the images.

Who knows what is in store for this power plant. Most likely scenario is it will go to waste or be demolished. Heavy industry is still on the decline in Belgium and they plan to buy in their electricity from other countries.

I can't see any reason why they will need to fire this place up again.