The industrial development of Ghent is indebted to a significant extent to Baron Floris van Loo. From the end of the 19th century, he made attempts to electrify the region. These efforts resulted in the establishment of the “Centrales Electrique des Flandres et du Brabant” (Electric Power Plants of Flanders and Brabant) in 1911. Two years later, construction began on the Langerbrugge thermal power plant along the Ghent-Terneuzen canal.

This power plant formed the foundation for the industrial development of the zone. Architect Eugène Dhuicque designed the building in a decorative brick style. The plant was commissioned at the beginning of World War I but suffered heavy damage at the end of the war, not so much to the buildings as to the installations. The plant would continue to develop and expand throughout the 20th century.

From the late 1980s, production was systematically phased out until it was completely shut down in 2010. For a time, a “Museum Energeia” was operated in the oldest buildings. In 2000, Electrabel (the successor to ECVB) decided to no longer invest in the museum.