The gasworks in Esch-sur-Alzette
The Esch/Alzette gasworks was founded in 1899 and was built by Carl Francke from Bremen, who simultaneously received the concession to supply the town with gas. At that time, the town’s gas was produced in a coking plant and used for public lighting. The calorific value of this town gas was half that of natural gas. Moreover, this town gas was toxic due to its high carbon monoxide content.
In 1905, the town of Schifflange was connected to the town gas network.
In 1906, the Thüringer Gasgesellschaft from Leipzig took over the installations and extended the network to the towns of Audun-le-Tiche, Russange and Aumetz. In 1923, the Compagnie Générale pour le Gaz et l’Electricité was founded; the Thüringer Gasgesellschaft remained the main shareholder and transferred its holdings to RHENAG.
In 1953, the six municipalities of Esch-sur-Alzette, Differdange, Pétange, Schifflange, Sanem and Bascharage took over the company by acquiring all the former shareholders’ shares. The shares were distributed according to the number of inhabitants in each municipality.
The company develops
In 1966, the production of town gas in Esch was stopped and district gas was imported from France. In 1970, it was decided to introduce natural gas in Luxembourg, and the municipality’s gas supply was completely converted to natural gas in 1972, requiring the conversion of all gas appliances. Natural gas (as we know it today) has a higher calorific value and does not contain carbon monoxide.
In 1975, the company merged with the inter-communal syndicate of the municipalities of Rumelange, Bettembourg and Kayl to take over the gas plant in Kayl.
In 1989, the name was changed to SUDGAZ S.A. Over the years, other municipalities joined the company’s shareholding, namely Mondercange (1989), Roeser and Reckange-sur-Mess (1991), Dippach (1993), Clemency (1996) and Garnich (1999).
After the municipalities of Clemency and Bascharage merged (01/01/2012), the company now has 14 shareholder municipalities:
Esch-sur-Alzette, Differdange, Pétange, Schifflange, Sanem, Käerjeng, Bettembourg, Kayl, Rumelange, Mondercange, Roeser, Reckange-sur-Mess, Dippach and Garnich.
Transitioning to renewable energies
Since 2015, SUDGAZ has been supporting energy-saving projects for its customers and promoting sustainable energy production projects in solar and wind – at the local level. The company is in the midst of a transition and wants to anchor this transition in its name. That is why SUDGAZ is now SUDenergie.