Electobel
Belgium’s supplier of electricity has its origins in four original companies; Gaz Belge, a holding company founded in 1862 to provide gas lighting and heating; Société Générale de Chemins de Fer Economiques (founded 1880), Compagnie Mutuelle de Tramways and Société Générale Belge d'Entreprises Electriques (both founded in 1895). By 1901, all four companies had set up design offices and were carrying out investment projects and managing thse operations. These included power supply and public transport in Belgium, the first electric trams in Damascus and Odessa, railways in Egypt and power stations in Argentina.
In 1929, these companies merged to form Electrobel and Mutuelle des Tramways operates as Tractionel. Electrobel built seven new power stations during the 1930s and 1940s and constructed the nation’s power grid, modelled on that the Britain’s National Grid, which was completed in 1941. Expansions on the grid were constructed during 1946-50. A new subsidiary in Czechoslovakia was founded in 1949. The Société Générale de Belgique is a majority shareholder.