 | |
| Industry | Oil and gas |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1865 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Margus Kaasik (Chairman of the Board) |
| Products | Natural gas Electric power CNG LNG |
| Services | Natural gas sale and distribution |
| Parent | AS Infortar |
| Subsidiaries | AS Gaasivõrk SIA Elenger (Latvia) UAB Elenger (Lithuania) Elenger OY (Finland) Elenger Sp. z o.o (Poland) Elenger Marine OÜ (Estonia) |
| Website | www |
Eesti Gaas AS, branded internationally asElenger, is an energy company with headquarters inTallinn,Estonia. The company's main activity is selling and distributing of natural gas in Estonian,Latvian,Finnish, andLithuanian markets. Eesti Gaas product portfolio includes alsoLNG,CNG, and electricity, including solar energy.
The predecessor of Eesti Gaas was established in 1948, and it was the first gas transport company in Estonia. The company however traces its history to 1865 when theTallinn Gasworks [et] was opened, which used coal imported from England andgasified there.[1] From 1948–1957 it transported Estonianoil shale gas through theKohtla-Järve –Leningrad pipeline toLeningrad, Later the pipeline was used in traverse mode to transport Russian natural gas to Estonia.[citation needed]
From 1963–1988, the company existed as the "General Administration of Gasification" under the Council of Ministers of theEstonian SSR. In 1988, the name 'Eesti Gaas' was first introduced, and in 1990, it became astate enterprise.[2] In 1993, AS Eesti Gaas was incorporated. The company was partly privatized in 1993–1995. In 1993, a 30% stake in Eesti Gaas was transferred to Lentransgaz (now: Gazprom Transgaz Saint Petersburg), a subsidiary ofGazprom, to eliminate the gas debt dispute.[3] In 1994,Ruhrgas (later: E.ON Ruhrgas) acquired about 15% of the company's shares while the management of the company, together with other private investors and the UK-based Baltic Republic Fund, acquired 7.5% of shares both.[2][4] As a result, the government of Estonia kept a 39% stake.[2] In December 1996, Ruhrgas increased its stake to 21%; 12% was sold to the public. In January 1999, the remaining state-owned shares were sold. Ruhrgas increased its stake up to 32%, Gazprom kept its 30% stake, andNeste (laterFortum) got a 10% stake.[2][4] Later that year,Itera (now part ofRosneft) Latvian branch acquired nearly 10% stake from the Baltic Republic Fund. In following years, Gazprom increased its stake up to 37%, E.ON up to 33.66%, and Fortum up to 17.7% by buying shares from private investors.[4][5] In 2014, E.ON sold its stake to Fortum, which became the largest shareholder with 51.4% stake.[6] In February 2016, it was announced that Fortum will sell its stake to Trilini Energy, a company controlled by the investment firm Infortar, the major shareholder of the shipping companyTallink.[7] Later, Trilini also acquired 50.9% of the shares owned previously by Gazprom and 1.15% of the shares owned by minority shareholders.[8][9]
In 1998, all regional subsidiaries of Eesti Gaas were merged into the parent company.[10] In December 2004, the gas infrastructure construction activities were transferred to the separate subsidiary, AS EG Ehitus. In 2005, the gas grid services (transmission and distribution) were transferred to the newly established subsidiary company EG Võrguteenus. In 2013, the distribution network was separated from EG Võrguteenus into a newly established subsidiary of Eesti Gaas, AS Gaasivõrgud. In 2014, to implement the EU third energy package EG Võrguteenus was separated from Eesti Gaas.[11]
In 2013, Eesti Gaas started to sell electricity.[12]
In January 2018, Eesti Gaas started supplyingliquefied natural gas (LNG) for the Tallink's ferryMegastar.[13] In October 2018, Eesti Gaas announced that it will order 6,000-cubic-metreLNG barge forbunkering of ships in the northern and eastern part of theBaltic Sea. The barge would be ready by 2020, and it will be built byDamen Group.[14]
Eesti Gaas imports, sells and distributes pipeline natural gas, as alsocompressed natural gas (CNG), including compressed biomethan, as fuel for vehicles andliquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel for ships.[15] In addition to Estonia, Eesti Gaas also sells energy in Latvia, Lithuania and Finland.[16]
Eesti Gaas has 11 CNG stations in Estonia which sell alsobiomethane.[17] It provides LNG bunkering services to LNG-powered ships in Tallinn, Helsinki, andHanko.[18] The company delivers LNG by trucks from the LNG plant inPskov in Russia and theKlaipeda LNG terminal in Lithuania, as also from Finland and Poland.[19]
Eesti Gaas' subsidiary AS Gaasivõrk owns and operates the natural gas distribution network in Estonia. Eesti Gaas also sells electricity[15] and owns stakes insolar parks with a total capacity around 4 MW.[20]In 2021 received its firstLNG bunkering ship which was namedOptimus.[21]
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