De Centrale

In the 20th century, electricity became a part of daily life. In 1924 the City of Ghent decided to build a power station on the Ham, which generated electric power with two turbo-alternators from 1926 onwards. In 1958 the city’s heating system came into use. The energy from the power station’s residual steam heated several hospitals and other public buildings (and it still does today!). At the end of the 1960s, the first group of diesel alternators came into operation. At 25 megawatt, they were the most powerful in the world in their day. In the late 1980s the boiler rooms, unloading equipment for coal and the chimneys were dismantled. 

The most recent part of the building has been turned into a power station. Since the end of 2011, EDF Luminus has operated a steam and gas power station here. The intercultural centre De Centrale occupies the remaining space.

Industriemuseum