The aim of this paper is to present a numerical and experimental study of the positive corona discharge in the Wire-Cylinder-Plane geometry intended for electrostatic charging of insulating materials. A detailed experimental procedure is described to determine the corona discharge characteristics where different electrode layouts have been tested to improve the performance of the charge process. In addition, the corona governing equations are successfully implemented and solved in the studied geometry using Comsol Multiphysics Software. The study focused on the effect of the presence of the non-ionizing cylinder on the coronating wire. It has been found that increasing the diameter of the cylinder or bringing it closer to the wire reinforces the shielding effect between the two electrodes, which results in the reduction of the corona current and current density at the level of the measurement plane. The measured I–V characteristics and current density distributions were found to be in good agreement with the corresponding numerical predictions.