Lady in Red Power Plant, France

Lady in Red is a disused power plant control room in France. This power plant was built in the 1940s/1950s, to supply energy to a large nearby paper manufacturing site. The power plant generated steam via the burning of natural gas and fuel oil, which in turn generated electricity to operate the large industrial site. The paper mill mainly produced lightweight coated (LWC) paper; paper coated with minerals such as kaolinite to be used in packaging and printing industries.

The site extracted water from the adjacent river, processing and refining this on-site in a water treatment works next to the power plant. There was also a wood yard with de-barking and cutting machinery, to prepare raw wood for paper manufacture.

The paper mill had a production capacity of 330,000 tonnes of paper per year and employed nearly 350 people. During the early 2010’s production fell to less than 270,00 tonnes of paper per year. The parent company spent two years trying to sell the site. The site was deemed to be no longer profitable, and operations ceased indefinitely several months later.

The entire power plant building is empty, apart from the near pristine control room. All turbines and machinery have been completely stripped out. Wondering through the empty halls, we did begin to think we had incorrect coordinates. Eventually, we entered the Lady in Red control room. An ominous humming noise fills this small dark room. A router is connected to one of the terminals, a green light blinks indicating active data transfer. There is a crescent-shaped red control panel on each side of the room, with more dials and switches on green wall-mounted banks. In the middle of a room, three CRT monitors sit on a red/orange/yellow desk.